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Reiiiinibcciices of i 



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]p Parker Whitne 



-Author otJ^^'^^^tTver -Vu^ij^f ; ^>»^^'^^&,^^-^^^'^Ji^S^J^JJ£l#0^ion and 
or^IiaallJvcrHmved Lands ' ; '• Colonizainon'*; 
The Orangti and US Culuvacion in (JaliloilllstyiL etc. 




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190^ 



Reminiscences of a 
Sportsman 



/: 



By 



Parker Whitney 



Author of " The Silver Mines of Colorado " ; " The Reclamation and 

Cultivation of Tidal Overflowed Lands" ; " Colonization"; 

" The Orange and its Cultivation in Calitornia," etc. 



Forest and Stream Publishing Co. 

New York 

1906 






LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
One Copy Rflceived 

JUN 25 1906 

- Copyriunt entry 
OLASS '0L XXc. No, 
COPY 8. ' 



Copyright, 1906 

BY 

J. PARKER WHITNEY 



Ube ftnfclterbocfter press, Dew ]^orft 



PREFACE 

SOME time ago I was induced at the request of a 
friend who had charge of a Sporting Review to 
write some articles for his paper. 

These were continued longer than I had originally 
contemplated, and I give them with some additions m 
this volume. 

From youth I have been 'very fond of out-door life, 
and sports of all kinds, and although for many years 
engaged extensively in business affairs, I have never 
failed in giving way for these pursuits. Often such 
indulgence was seemingly to my disadvantage, but 
after half a century of gratification in this respect, I 
am well satisfied in believing I have no occasion for 
regret, for one cannot be deprived of enjoyinents once 
possessed. I may add, that in pursuit of adventure, 
I have gained some important pecuniary advantages 
from opportunities offering. 

The material in this volume of reminiscences is 
given in the order as first contributed, and not classi- 
fied as it would be if written lately. 



Reminiscences 

FISHING has been my predominating pastime, to 
which I have given more time and attention than 
to any other. At eight years of age, my father then 
being a resident of New Orleans, I commenced the 
gratification of this taste along the route of the Pont- 
chartrain canal running from the city by the shell 
road to the lake of the same name. 

I well remember now, after many years have 
elapsed, the exciting joy I felt when with my short 
rod and line I drew forth from amid the tree roots 
and rushes skirting the canal the small perch which 
I afterward fried in buttered tins by the kitchen fire. 
They tasted good, as well as the soft -shell crabs 
which I netted at the lake. And I remember how 
late on Saturday afternoon, after school, I prolonged 
my stay at the canal and lake until darkness came 
on and how frightened I became as I sped my way 
home at running speed, imagining the logs and roots 
by the canal to be bears or alligators, which abounded 
in the neighboring swamps. 

At ten years of age I accompanied my two elder 
brothers upon a bear-hunting excursion in Texas, 
where my action was a minor part, but which resulted 
in the capture of two. 

At twelve years of age I passed the summer 
near my birthplace in Massachusetts, where I spent the 



2 Reminiscences of 

most of my time in trout and pickerel fishing. The 
former was fairly good, and the latter particularly 
so over the many ponds in the vicinity, and I trudged 
many miles for constantly alluring prospects at more 
promising ponds at a distance, when my results were 
less than I could have accomplished nearer home. 
Thus ever is the sportsman beckoned on to distant 
fields by the ignis fatuus of expectation, and too often 
misled. 

I remember one day, although I fished for pickerel 
generally with a skittering bait of frog's legs, of set- 
ting a quantity of lines off the dam of a mill-pond 
in the deep water, bai ted with live minnows, and 
making a great catch. I employed a number of boys 
who caught bait and attended the lines, using quite 
a number of winter lines belonging to my uncle. I 
paid the boys in fish, but had so many, and more than 
could be eaten at home, that, with the boys, I lugged 
them two or three miles to a neighboring hotel and sold 
them for a small handful of silver, which I was not 
above making pocket-money of, and' thought at the 
time I was making great headway in finance. This 
success inspired so much attention toward the pond 
that it soon became depleted of its precious holding. 

I noted in later years, when visiting the trout brooks 
I fished that summer with tolerable success, that 
these brooks had dwindled away in volume and life, 
owing to the denudation of the forests, a result which 
is now clearly evident with many New England brooks, 
and which is shown on a larger scale in many coimtries 
and particularly in Spain in the coimtry about Madrid, 
where are seen large bridges of iron and stone con- 
structed in the sixteenth century over then large 



A Sportsman 3 

streams, which have now dwindled down to insignifi- 
cant volume. 

At the time of founding Madrid in the early part of 
the sixteenth century, which was centrally located in 
Spain, it was surrounded by forests of magnitude, 
all of which have disappeared from view. They 
were rain breeders and moisture holders, and with 
their loss the country became deprived of water 
supply and dependent upon irrigation. 

I was strongly reminded while there, and viewing 
the desolate appearance of the environs of the city, 
of those about the comparatively treeless region 
of the city of Santa Fe in New Mexico, where one 
looks out upon a desert country, but scantily re- 
lieved by habitation. 

I have noted in New Mexico the effect of forest 
denudation, as it is well known that at the time 
of the Francisco Vasquez de Coronado Spanish invasion 
in the early part of the sixteenth century, diverted 
from the Hernando Cortes, that considerable parts 
of New Mexico were forest -grown, now barren, which 
supported a much larger native population than found 
at the time of the acquisition of that territory by 
the United States in 1848. 

Frequent forest fires were the occasion which, even 
before the Coronado advance in search of the golden 
cities of Mexican tradition, had made prominent 
ravages, and diminished a population which had so 
far as indications show, been the most dense at one 
time in Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado 
that existed upon the North American continent. 

I have witnessed on the Estancia plains, and at 
Algodones and other localities in New Mexico and 



4 Reminiscences of 

Southern Colorado, and especially about Algodones, 
comparatively unsettled now, the plentiful remnants 
of pottery, which can be dug up at about every shovel- 
ful, ancient watercourses, and adobe walls extending 
over many square miles, which have withstood the 
exposure of centuries. Ruins of stone watch-towers, 
and walls of immense commimity houses which were 
occupied by himdreds of the early Toltecs, remain as 
monuments of a departed race. 

The question of forest preservation is becoming 
one of increasing importance, not only for game life 
but for commercial purposes, and the consumption 
at present by fires, and the demands for lumber, and 
especially wood pulp, and for domestic uses, is reach- 
ing alarming proportions; and in view of a rapidly 
increasing population on the North American conti- 
nent, which in^another century will be four or five times 
greater than now, one may readily see that the ques- 
tion of wood supply and its preservation and cultiva- 
tion will be one of vital interest. 

At fourteen and fifteen years of age — in 1849-50 — 
I had plentiful experience in Illinois over its plains 
and in the wooded region along the Mississippi River. 

The State was then young, containing about one 
twentieth of its present population. Game was 
plentiful: bear, deer, raccoons, opossum, wild turkeys, 
water-fowl, prairie chickens, and quail. Squirrels 
were common about the hickory groves — ^gray, fox, 
and some black — and many of the gray and fox fell 
before my gun. I was very fond of this shooting, and 
I have never seen such quantities of squirrels else- 
where as were in evidence at that time. The fox 
squirrels here moved about the com bins and fields, 



A Sportsman 5 

while the gray I found more plentiful about the trees. 
These were more cunning in escaping observation, and 
had a habit of rapidly disappearing around the oppo- 
site side of the trees, where they were securely hid- 
den from view, excepting a small portion of their 
heads, projecting for observation. As I would pro- 
ceed around the tree I would be baffled by the alert 
squirrels, which would slip around in sequence with 
my movements. 

It has been a mooted question if, in circling a tree 
in this manner, one who • made the circuit with a 
squirrel upon the opposite side of the tree would 
actually go around the squirrel while going around 
the tree. This question I will leave open. 

I soon overcame this difficulty by throwing a con- 
venient stone or stick of wood as far as I could to the 
opposite side of the tree, which landing with some 
noise would almost invariably throw the squirrel 
momentarily off guard, when he would flash quickly 
to my side of the tree to investigate the probably 
new source of danger. The stay would scarcely be 
more than half a second, but sufficient in my pre- 
paredness to accomplish the end. 

One day I bagged four grays out of five from a 
single hickory tree, which set the color vividly in 
mind. This was equalled on a moonlight foray we 
made with dogs for 'coons. 

One evening we secured a family of four from a 
single tree where they had taken refuge. This hunt- 
ing at night on horseback with dogs was a pastime 
much in vogue in my locality, and an occasional wild- 
cat was taken in. I had an adventure with a 'coon one 
day which was not very pleasant. It was after a light 



6 Reminiscences of 

fall of snow when I sallied out with axe and gun with 
two old, almost toothless dogs, the only ones about, 
and after tracking a 'coon to a hollow tree I proceeded 
to cut it down. No 'coon appeared, but while inspect- 
ing the upper part of the decayed tree a large one in 
its fright leaped out directly upon me. Down I fell in 
confusion, and upon me the 'coon and my two old dogs. 
To save myself I struggled hard, but the more I strug- 
gled the more I seemed to be the centre of attack, and it 
was an occasion of pleasant surprise when I succeeded in 
removing myself from the conflict, when the dogs had dis- 
abled the 'coon, to find I had received no bites, although 
sadly scratched, and with my clothing badly torn. 

Wild turkeys abounded in the neighboring for- 
est, and their gobblings could often be heard at a dis- 
tance in the early morn. Small -brained and stupid 
as they are in many respects, they are nevertheless 
very quick and alert to take alarm, and when dis- 
turbed depend more upon their rimning than on flying. 
Stupid they are to allow themselves to be trapped in 
a rough structure of logs of a few feet in height, with 
open spaces between the logs, but not sufficiently wide 
to allow their egress. 

One part on one side is left open to a height of 
twelve or thirteen inches from the ground. Com is 
strewed plentifully on the ground inside of the struc- 
ture and in a stringing way leading in several direc- 
tions from it. The turkeys, reaching the com leaders, 
follow up and unsuspecting enter the open way to the 
interior. After a while a sense of confinement occurs, 
and one flies up to escape between the logs, and, failing, 
gives panic to the balance, who lose their heads and 
all become frantic in their efforts to escape in the same 



A Sportsman 7 

manner without seeking the place of ingress. This sim- 
ple method is often followed with much success. 

We occasionally in the autumn caught turkeys in 
the cornfields, where they were seen, attracted by the 
com in husk pendent upon the stalks. This was 
done by chasing with dogs. Those hard pressed 
behind would take flight over the fence into the 
woods beyond, but those in advance would run to 
the fence to get through, and finding they could not, 
as the fences about the field were of rails zigzag 
and hog-proof at the bottom, in their close quarters 
running along the fence for possible openings and 
unable to rise abruptly enough to get over, would be 
seized by the dogs. 

One day, while riding through the woods and ap- 
proaching a settlement, I came upon a flock of turkeys 
which moved about near me with so little alarm that 
I thought it domestic, but having, after leaving 
them, a suspicion that it might not be, inquired at 
a near-by house and found that it was a wild one. 

Prairie chickens were in great plentifulness at that 
time, and I can remember seeing the farm fences 
so loaded with them on frosty mornings as to be in 
danger of breaking down. On one occasion when I 
accompanied some older hunters upon the plains for 
chicken shooting we filled the wagon body with birds. 
The prairie chicken — pinnated grouse, — indigenous over 
a large area of the middle-western country of the United 
States, existed in great waves of plentifulness in the 
grain regions of Illinois at this time — 1849, — which in 
abundance gradually diminished as the State became 
settled up, and the wave of plentifulness extended 
westward. 



8 Reminiscences of 

In August, 1880, when I accompanied a party 
from Chicago in a special sportsman's car into Min- 
nesota and Eastern Dakota, we found this great 
wave of plentifulness there, and I remember my first 
day's shooting in the fields, when I bagged twenty- 
eight birds. We had a box freight -car accompanying 
with ice, and were enabled to preserve our birds for 
forwarding back to our friends, though we ate a great 
many, as well as blue-winged teal, which were in force 
about the waterways. 

The region was then settled largely by Danes 
and Norwegians, and entirely open from fences ; and 
chicken hunters were in some abundance, to the an- 
noyance of the settlers, who came out to warn us 
off their lands. 

Dear Uncle Jake (J. K. Armsby, of Chicago, now 
deceased) was with us. How gently and well he would 
take the hurrying-out settlers as we drove up to their 
houses to ask permission to shoot over their lands ! 

Before they could speak a word he would conciliate 
them with a hearty greeting, and, having a big flask 
of whiskey and sundry small bags of smoking-tobacco 
and cigars, and children's picture books, he would 
have them placated before they could deny, which 
would result in a hearty invitation to make ourselves 
at home over the harvested fields. 



'X'HE pinnated grouse, or prairie chicken, is a purely 

■■■ indigenous American bird, and like the ruffed 

grouse, or partridge, commonly called, was formerly 

foimd extensively scattered over the continent, and 



A Sportsman 9 

until late years existed upon some of the small islands 
of the Atlantic Coast. 

The male bird has on each side of the neck a dis- 
tensible orange-colored sac, which at mating season 
it inflates and dilates with a single booming sound, 
which is supposed to be very attractive to the gentler 
bird, or of challenging quality to its own kind. 

When rising, it flies very evenly, presenting a fine 
mark for the sportsman. It has a most remarkable 
quality in its ability upon a comparatively bare 
ground to hide itself from observation. I have often 
observed this feature when without a dog I have 
marked down and followed a covey from a short flight. 
Approaching cautiously imtil I stood in the place of 
descent I have looked in vain for the birds which I 
knew were immediately about me, in fact almost under 
my feet, and I have stood for minutes gazing intently 
upon every nubbin of earth and spear of grass for a 
bird and not one could I see. Advancing, finally, one 
would fly up within a few feet of me, which would be a 
signal for the balance to rise, and off they would go 
from all around me. 

I do not account the prairie chicken — ^though very 
tender and juicy when yoiing — as particularly at- 
tractive for continuous eating, or in any way equal 
to the white meat of the ruffed grouse or partridge, 
which to my taste is superior, when in condition and 
well kept, to any bird in permanence of appetite hold. 
I have observed in the latter bird a marked differ- 
ence in flavor, in favor of those of the Atlantic Coast 
over those of the Pacific. The latter I have often 
found too highly flavored with odors of various kinds 
arising from their particular food. 



lo Reminiscences of 

The hen partridge is very courageous in the de- 
fence of her tender young, and I have more than 
once been amused by seeing my pet collie — ^who has 
more gentlemanly qualities than most dogs — chased 
out of sight by an enraged partridge mother, sur- 
prised with her young. Several times in the Maine 
woods I have warded off with my hands the sudden 
attacks of a hen partridge when so surprised, and in 
those solitary forests, where human beings are not 
often seen, I have often watched for some minutes 
a clucking cock partridge strolling about me, ob- 
livious of any danger. They are often snared in 
Maine woods by boys, with moderately long poles 
with nooses attached. A feature I have also ob- 
served has been the increasing tameness of these 
birds about the sunset hour, more evident than at 
any other time. 

For several years I had one frequent my fishing 
residence at the Rangeley Lakes, which would bud 
on the poplar in front, and made free with the store- 
room and woodshed, and would feed on the food 
thrown out. 

The spruce partridge of Maine is a bird still tamer 
than the ruffed grouse, but is not of pleasant flavor, 
though beautiful in plumage. It inhabits the swamps 
and spruce trees, taking its flavor from the latter. 

The sage cock of the great plains is another of the 
grouse family which is not of agreeable eating flavor, 
being tainted with the brush it inhabits and feeds on. 
This bird has the distinguishing feature of being un- 
like any of the grouse family, being gizzardless, hav- 
ing no muscular development of that character, but 
a membranous sac in its place. 



A Sportsman ii 

The ptarmigan is, I think, the poorest eating of all 
the grouse family, not excepting the spruce grouse, 
and is as tame in its home localities as the latter. 
I have often encountered them in the heights of the 
Rocky Mountains. When with tender young chickens 
they will exhibit the actions of the domestic hen 
and bustle about in a similar manner, and I have 
taken up the young chickens in my hands and held 
them momentarily, while the mother would flutter 
around, and when let go would scamper away with 
the brood. I have seen them in the winter fly into 
uncrusted snow banks, when following them up would 
be a useless effort, as the ptarmigan will travel faster 
in a loose snow bank than one can dig after it. 

I think our great American turkey may be put at 
the head of the "gizzard" family, and may lead the 
digesting procession, for it is capable of digesting 
about anything which enters its crop, be it vegetable, 
animal, or mineral. I have killed them when they 
were unable to fly from the weight of their over- 
loaded crops, which swept on the ground as they 
walked, and have taken from single crops nearly a 
quart of acorns and other nuts, which would surely 
have been digested had the turkey lived. 

The gizzard of a turkey is a wonderful piece of 
muscular mechanism of great power, through which 
the contents of the crop pass with the auxiliary 
grinders of stones, and the great muscular exertions 
of the gizzard pulverize the hardest acorns, some of 
them being as large as a man's thumb. Experiments 
have been tried with turkeys by setting stout needles 
in glass marbles, and being covered with dough these 
have been swallowed and, after a few days, have been 



12 Reminiscences of 

recovered from the gizzard and found with the needles 
gone, and the glass pretty well worn away. The 
turkey may be regarded at the head for its digestive 
qualities, as well as for its delicious flavor. ^ ; 

Those were very happy days I passed in Illinois, 
to which my memory frequently reverts, and while 
many say they can only find pleasure in the expecta- 
tions of the future, I find much in the contempla- 
tion of the past; and although I have committed 
many follies, and probably but few wise acts, I 
have certainly enjoyed life to a large extent, which 
more than balances the disappointments I have ex- 
perienced. 

Some twenty years after leaving there, being near 
the scenes of such pleasant memory, I procured a 
vehicle and drove over to the old Stone farm, but — 
sic transit gloria mundi — what a shock I received! 
What an obliteration of all the old landmarks had 
occurred! The woods on the south had disappeared 
and in their place was an extensive cowfield inter- 
sected with trails, and beyond cornfields and houses. 
The dense forest extending to the river, and so wild 
and sombre I hardly dared to penetrate its far depths, 
had entirely disappeared. The brooks seemed to 
have dwindled away, and the old hickory trees of 
lofty height, which had appeared to me as sentinels 
of time, were gone. In vain I inquired of the set- 
tlers for the families of yore, only to be answered by 
the response, " Moved over to Missouri," or " Gone to 
Kansas." The tears unbidden came to my eyes, and 
I departed for new scenes, never to return. 

After leaving Illinois, I attended school at West- 
minster, Mass., where I gave more attention to duck 



A Sportsman 13 

and partridge shooting and fishing than I did to 
studies. 

One Ossian E. Dodge, a spirited singer, came 
along, accompanied by several minstrels of like 
character, whose concerts interested the town. One 
of their songs pertaining to California was given 
with great effect, of which I remember only the fol- 
lowing lines : 

'T is there they say the gold is found, 

In great big lumps all over the ground. 

Who'll go? Who'll go? 

And we all sleep sound on the cold damp ground 

Except when the wolves come howling around. 

Who'll go? Who'll go? 

I thought I would. 

Another thing influenced me somewhat in that 
direction. One of the boys at school who had lately 
returned with his parents from California indicated 
a considerable degree of affluence by prodigally 
throwing oranges at some of the boys, who so as- 
sented for the privilege of keeping the oranges thrown. 
How slight are the circumstances which seriously 
affect our lives! 

In 1852, at seventeen years of age, I arrived in San 
Francisco with my double-barrelled shotgun, a revolver, 
and a large, double-edged knife with a blade thirteen 
inches long, made from an old sword my elder brother 
had acquired in the Mexican War of 1846-47. I made 
a long passage of 142 days around Cape Horn, a 
monotonous trip diversified occasionally by catching 
sharks when becalmed in the tropics, spearing por- 
poises, and trolling for bonita and dolphins. Off 
Cape Horn, where sea birds were plentiful, we caught 



14 Reminiscences of 

several varieties, and one day I caught a barrelful 
of cape pigeons, so called from their resemblance to 
that bird, but web-footed. These afforded several 
good meals for all hands, and they seemed very good 
eating at the time. I caught these with a long line, 
to which was attached a good-sized morsel of salt 
pork, below which extended a string of hooks on a 
strip of wood, on which the feet of the birds became 
entangled as the vessel moved on. This was a base 
and unfair method, which I now regret. 

I landed in San Francisco well armed, but com- 
paratively penniless, ten cents being all of my remaining 
capital of sixty dollars I had started with; fifty-nine 
dollars and ninety cents having been diverted by poker 
games, in which I was initiated by several young men 
on the voyage at one-cent ante and ten-cent limit. 

An unfortunate incident occurred in connection 
with a family of Braggs, who had engaged passages 
and had their baggage aboard our ship, by being left 
behind. Our ship was delayed in loading for several 
days after the date fixed, and this family, depend- 
ing upon its being still longer delayed, were visiting 
in an adjoining town and overlooked. The family 
sailed two weeks afterwards for San Francisco in a 
succeeding ship of the same line. 

When we pulled in at San Francisco, Mr. Bragg 
was on the wharf awaiting our arrival, having been 
in the city two weeks before our arrival, our ship 
being a month longer in passage than the one he 
sailed on with his family. On this following ship, 
which had been loading some time before our ship 
sailed, he had loaded all of his goods in trade, valued 
at $10,000, consisting principally of furniture, giving 



A Sportsman 15 

up that business in Boston in view of continuing it 
in San Francisco. He had insured it against loss, 
but upon being left behind rescinded his insurance 
to save the premium, concluding, as he should take 
passage on the same ship with his family, that in 
case of shipwreck resulting in the loss of his goods 
he would probably with his family be lost also, and 
have no advantage from insurance. When the ship 
conveying him and his family and goods was entering 
the Golden Gate entrance to the city, it struck on a 
hidden rock, and sunk beneath the water a total 
loss, although all the passengers and crew were safely 
landed. Poor Mr. Bragg shed tears as he related to 
me his tale of sorrow, and I expressed much pity 
and sympathy for him; what became of him after- 
wards I never knew. 

San Francisco, at that time, was a bustling city of 
some 30,000 inhabitants, and it was the flush period 
of the State, when money was plentiful, as well as the 
comforts of life. The latter were expensive, but 
money flowed freely and business was driving. Open 
gambling was at its height, and one could go through 
the centre of several blocks in the large gambling 
halls by crossing the streets. These saloons were 
ornamented with spacious bars, from which the 
plungers were supplied with free drinks, and soft 
music was dispensed with free hand. Side tables 
were supplied with free lunches, and all possible aid 
was extended to the sturdy miner, with his bag of 
gold dust, to induce his belief that the true Eldo- 
rado had been finally reached, and that he was a 
prominent stockholder and director in it. 

The awakening was sometimes abrupt when he 



i6 Reminiscences of 

discovered that his interest had expired, and that his 
orders at the bar were ignored. Surprised and dis- 
pirited and restricted to free lunch, a conviction 
gradually formed in his breast that his experience 
had been a dream, and that his wakefulness should 
consist of another turn at the sluice boxes. Fights 
and murders were common; forty murders were said 
to have been committed in San Francisco in 1852 
and only one murderer hanged — Jose Fomie, whose 
body we on the good ship Polynesia saw hanging in 
plain sight on Telegraph Hill the day we rounded 
the Golden Gate to dock. 

Times were stirring; the roughs terrorized the 
citizens. A band calling itself "regulators" preyed 
upon the people instead of protecting them. One 
Casy, a gambler, shot in cold blood James King, of 
William, a prominent editor of the newspaper Bul- 
letin, for exposing his crimes. Thugs and ballot - 
stuifers controlled the polls. The bell tolled one day 
and the vigilance committee was formed of good 
citizens, with its mysterious and unknown secretary, 
otherwise than No. 33, whose mandates became law. 

Arrests were made right and left; Casy and Cora 
were hanged; Yankee Sullivan, a noted prize-fighter 
and ballot-stuffer, committed suicide in his cell upon 
arrest, fearing that he would be hanged. Roughs 
were largely banished and prohibited from returning. 
I saw a lot leaving on a departing steamer — Billy 
Mulligan, Charley Duane, and others. I saw one day 
hanging on the hoisting tackle of a commercial house 
on a principal street the bodies of Whittaker and 
McKenzie, hung by the vigilance committee. Order 
was soon largely restored. 



A Sportsman 17 

PENNILESS though I was, my heart was most 
courageous. Was not the world my oyster, 
as with ancient Pistol, and could I not open it with 
my sword blade? My three elder brothers had pre- 
ceded me in 1848 and 1849 to California, and two were 
engaged in San Francisco in profitable business, and I 
had pressing invitations to join them, but I had no 
taste for it. Had I not my gun, and could I not have 
more fim to my liking in the country? Besides, I 
had visions of those lumps of gold said to be lying 
about at the mines, and hearing that near Auburn, 
in Placer County, over one hundred and fifty miles 
north of San Francisco, miners were making great pay, 
I went up there. How I got up to Sacramento 
— ^which was en route, up the bay one hundred miles 
distant — I cannot remember, but I do vividly re- 
member that I walked up the distance of forty miles 
to the mines, and back to Sacramento again. The 
game I killed gave me welcome for meals and lodg- 
ings; welcome with the miners was more hearty in 
those days, when the professional tramp was unknown. 
Apropos of tramps, no country is more infested with, 
or more favorable from its mild climate for, those 
vagabonds than California. Here sleeping out in the 
open or camping out is a pleasant pastime, where the 
blanket brigade is in great force, and where, owing to 
the thoughtless liberality of the people, it can depend 
upon liberal "handouts." The magnitude of this ele- 
ment was a legacy from the Civil War of 1860-65, as 
all can note who remember how rare it was prior 
to the war. Of late it has been an increasing evil 
for which no remedy has appeared adequate, but 
will ultimately be relieved in the grand march of 



1 8 Reminiscences of 

civilization as well as many other social evils by 
which humanity is retarded. 

It will be remembered that the history of the ani- 
mal man has been very brief compared with time — 
a history which extends back but a few thousand 
years, and which by its extraordinary progress, 
despite the horrors of war and kindred demoraliziag 
evils, will ultimately reach a level when a retro- 
spection of present conditions will create surprise 
that beings so iatelligent as those now existing 
could have submitted to such pernicious errors. 

The coimtry beyond Sacramento to the placer 
mines of Auburn was the most attractive I had ever or 
have since seen, comprising valleys and moderate hills 
grown over with groups of live and white oaks, in- 
habited by quantities of magpies, robins, larks, and 
other small birds. Beneath the trees were many 
quails and hares, with antelopes to be seen in the 
distance. 

It was midwinter, yet the weather was bright 
and warm, and the temperature seldom fell to 
freezing. 

How trivial are the incidents which oftentimes 
become important in our after lives! The casual ob- 
servation of a fellow foot-traveller who walked on 
with me for a while, that it was an ideal sheep region, 
gave a color to my thoughts, which half a dozen 
years afterwards matured in my mind to the com- 
mencement of an industry there in which I engaged. 

An elder brother had imported from Australia a 
few hundred high-grade sheep, of which all but one 
himdred and twenty had died upon the passage to 
San Francisco, and my brother's death occurring 



A Sportsman 19 

shortly afterwards, I became interested in them, and 
they were placed on a tract of one hundred and sixty 
acres midway between Sacramento and Auburn as a 
desirable locality, and I have carried on the business 
tmtil the present time in connection with other interests, 
and now after nearly half a century the interest has 
grown to an area of thirty thousand acres with nearly 
twenty thousand sheep. 

My rambles about the mines and along the sluicing 
ditches failed to give me the welcome sight of nuggets 
I had expected my keen vision to discover. I had ex- 
pected in my embryotic experience to sight a few of 
the size of hen's eggs, which might have escaped the 
observation of the miners, but afterwards concluded 
that I would be satisfied with some of more moderate 
dimensions, and finally thought I would be content 
with a few small ones sufficient to set off some scarf- 
pins ; but none did I find, and returned somewhat dis- 
appointed to San Francisco. Here I again declined 
opportunities for business, and frequenting the markets 
and game stalls more or less, which interested me more 
than anything else, I saw that game and birds, though 
plentiful, were fetching large prices. 

Obtaining particulars of the sources of supply, I 
concluded that the situation was very favorable for 
adventures to my liking. Small table birds, quail, 
larks, snipe, robins, etc., were selling at five and six 
dollars per dozen retail; venison, sixty and seventy- 
five cents per pound; turkeys, ten dollars; chickens, 
three dollars; eggs, three dollars per dozen; butter, 
one dollar per pound. Here was my opportunity. I 
learned that the Santa Clara Valley, at the south 
end of the bay of San Francisco, was one grand field 



20 Reminiscences of 

of birds; and that I could obtain three dollars per 
dozen for any kind. 

Securing tag cards of the most promising city 
market-men, I directed myself to the port of Alviso, 
at the foot of the bay adjoining the promised land. 
Though my finances were low, not having even the 
fifty cents to defray my passage down the bay, I was 
exultant, breathing freely of hope and oxygen. The 
absence of base lucre was a trifling item when ex- 
pectation loomed so brilliantly before me, and I had 
no difficulty in gaining the consent of the captain 
of the boat for a free passage when I explained the 
object of my trip, and he seemed very much amused at 
my enthusiasm. 

My eldest brother, who was much opposed to my 
absurd scheme, as he termed it, and annoyed at my 
refusal to engage with him in business, learning of 
my proposed departure, made his appearance at the 
wharf just about as the boat pulled out, and vainly 
besought me to desist, which I positively refused, 
and also the pecuniary aid he proffered. As the boat 
parted from the wharf I stepped upon it, and my 
brother, as a dernier, tossed a twenty-dollar gold 
piece at my feet, which I promptly threw back at his 
own, and bid him adieu. 

At Alviso, where I arrived before dark, I had no 
difficulty in getting credit for a good lay-in of pow- 
der, shot, and percussion caps, the latter then being 
in use for the muzzle-loaders in vogue, and in the 
latter respect I was equipped with my much-treas- 
ured double-barrelled companion, which that night I 
placed for safe-keeping under my pillow when I re- 
tired. I pushed on two or three miles from the 



A Sportsman 21 

village to a farmhouse, plentifully surrounded by wild- 
mustard fields, where birds seemed plentiful. Here 
I engaged board and lodgings at eight dollars per 
week. 

The following morning at daylight I was in the 
fields, and early in the afternoon had about three 
dozen assorted birds which, tagged, went off that day 
to my market customer. This pastime I followed 
for several weeks, and although I did not average 
my first day's shooting, I rolled up a pretty fair 
profit over my expenses. The labor, however, I found 
rather wearing, despite my youth and activity; for, 
besides my necessitated walking in the fields, I had 
to give daily three or four miles more to the boat 
and back in forwarding my birds to market. This 
worked down my flesh somewhat, and though weigh- 
ing now 175 pounds, I was down to 120 pounds at 
that time. 

One day a man came along bleeding from a broken 
head, leading a spirited mustang stallion, which had 
thrown him, and offered to sell it, with the ordinary 
Mexican saddle and bridle, for $25. I had in view 
the joining of a small party of hunters, who were 
killing deer and elk in the neighboring mountains for 
the San Francisco market, so I purchased the horse, 
and in a few days joined the mountain party, which 
consisted of four, my interest being one half that 
allowed to the other hunters, and took up my abode 
with them at an open encampment in the mountain 
hills back of the San Jose Mission. 

This party consisted of a German, a well-educated 
young Englishman, and two Americans. The latter 
were both from the State of New Hampshire, and 



22 Reminiscences of 

one of them, Bennet, was a remarkably good and 
successful shot, very muscular, and noted for his 
adventures with and killing of grizzly bears. The 
latter were quite plentiful then in mountain regions 
about the Santa Clara Valley, in a region now taken 
up wholly by settlements, from which the grizzlies 
have been pretty effectually eliminated. 

In the early days grizzlies were very plentiful 
about the valleys in the State, and John Bidwell, an 
early settler in the Sacramento Valley, gives fre- 
quent mention of them in his diary, lately published, 
and of often seeing from eight to ten in a single day. 
These grizzly monarchs, once so fierce and tenacious 
and disputants of the regions they inhabited, are now 
but rarely seen, excepting in menageries or parks, 
where they humbly accept peanuts and sweets from 
well-protected visitors. 

Elk have entirely disappeared, and deer are re- 
stricted to comparatively limited ranges. Antelope, 
once so plentiful, are about gone. It was not uncom- 
mon in those early days to see large bands of elk 
frequently, and deer were so plentiful as to occasion 
cessation at times from shooting by the party I accom- 
panied, from inability to transport to Alviso, the 
shipping station to San Francisco. 

Our system comprised three pack mules, carrying 
six deer, and required two days for the trip, one day 
to Alviso, and one for return. These trips were 
taken by the hunters in sequence, in which I took 
part. I remained with this party for three months 
until the shooting season ended. When it terminated 
I had a small pot of money as my share, which con- 
stituted my commencement capital for the business 



A Sportsman 23 

of my life, and I had the pleasure at a later period 
of making a gift of $25,000 to my elder brother, 
whose wants were greater than mine. 

One of our New Hampshire men was a graduate 
of Yale College, and after the hunting trip I saw 
him engaged in the water business in San Fran- 
cisco, he having acquired, with his capital obtained 
in hunting, an artesian well, from which he was 
distributing the water in carts. 

Bennet was a remarkable character in his way, 
and never went out of the way to avoid a grizzly 
bear, and killed three during our excursion. He was 
of medium height and very muscular, and double- 
jointed. He was very jolly and good-natured when 
normal, but quick to quarrel when in liquor, which 
was not infrequent, and would often fill up on his 
trips to the bay, and on one excursion to the boat 
engaged in a terrific hand fight with the burly land- 
lord of the Alviso Hotel, whom he laid up for re- 
pairs. He was a very fast runner, and claimed he 
could outrun a horse on a spurt. I saw him kill a 
large grizzly in an open wild-oat field one morning, 
which we observed at a considerable distance, as we 
arose. This, Bennet immediately claimed he would 
kill. The bear was dangerously situated for reaching 
and attacking, from being so far in the open without 
any sheltering trees or rocks. The bear was feeding 
upon wild oats, a favorite food. 

After a hasty breakfast, we mounted and accom- 
panied Bennet, and, being at the leeward, passed 
down a declivity and through some timber as near 
as we thought we could without being observed, 
and here separated. Bennet picketed his horse, and 



24 



Reminiscences of 



stripped down to his drawers and stocking feet, and, 
hatless, with his rifle and big knife, crept cautiously 
toward his victim. His knife was a feature, weigh- 
ing three or four pounds — ^his grizzly knife, as he 
called it. It was somewhat like a cleaver, except that it 
was sharpened on the back from the point for three 
or four inches. He claimed that he was once fol- 
lowed up a tree by a wounded bear, where the latter 
could by reaching the lower branches lift himself up, 
and that he reached down with his big knife and 
lopped off the bear's claws, and mangled his feet so 
badly that he fell off the tree and quit the attack. 
Bennet based his safety largely — ^upon failure to kill 
— on his speed as a sprinter, and upon his knife as 
a last resort. 

He soon passed out of sight, and after a little 
while I concluded to picket my horse and climb up 
a tree with my gun, from which I was able to view 
the field. I saw the bear was still feeding, oblivious 
of our approach and of Bennet's proximity, creeping 
through the tall wild oats and occasionally rising 
cautiously for a view. It was a bold, hazardous 
undertaking. Bennet kept on until he seemed to be 
within about sixty yards of the bear, and bruin was 
still unsuspicious. Here, cautiously peeping over the 
oats, he gave a light whistle, which brought the bear 
up and turning slowly around inspecting the origin 
of the sound. As he turned his side toward Bennet 
with his forepaws hanging down, the latter fired, and 
I saw the bear fall where he stood, and Bennet like- 
wise dropped in his place for a moment, when he 
carefully arose to see if any advance had occurred, 
and, not seeing any, withdrew cautiously, keeping 



A Sportsman 25 

an eye on the spot the bear had occupied until 
he had placed himself some hundreds of yards off, 
where he waited from five to ten minutes watching 
any movement which might occur. Not seeing any, 
he carefully approached the bear, and found him 
in place, in the last faint struggle of life. It was a 
large bear in good fur and flesh, but no advantage 
was taken of either, as the fur was out of season, 
and the weather was too warm for holding the meat, 
and the latter was of little value at any season as 
an edible. 

The grizzlies of the Pacific Coast, though larger 
than those of the Rocky Mountain ranges, and of 
great ferocity, are not considered as tenacious of life 
as those of the latter. Repeated instances are recited 
where the Rocky Mountain grizzlies after being 
fatally wounded have committed acts showing sur- 
prising vitality, mention of which has been made by 
all the prominent explorers of the West, commen- 
cing with the accounts of the famous Lewis and 
Clark expedition across the American continent in 
1804. It is related in the journals of that first ex- 
ploration party to cross the Rocky Mountain regions 
that grizzly bears were an especial terror, which 
swam rivers and killed hunters after being shot 
through the heart. 

Himters have remarked the effect upon animals 
resulting from the active or passive condition the 
animal was in at the time of being wounded. A 
ferocious animal in pursuit of its prey, or in defence 
of its young, will exhibit a far stronger hold on life 
than when engaged in resting, or quietly feeding. It 
was quite common in the earlier days of California 



26 Reminiscences of 

for the Mexican riders, fearless, and expert in the 
casting of the lariat, to surround a grizzly bear found 
in the open, and to hold him secure by numerous lines 
kept taut. Despite the enraged and frantic efforts of 
the bear, he became powerless while held by so many 
lariats straining in various directions from the pommels 
of well-cinched saddles, directed by the intelligent 
mustangs and their riders. When exhausted, the 
bear was despatched with a few shots or dragged to 
some stockade for a future bull and bear fight — a 
sport common in early days. 

The Mexican vaqueros, in early days, when more 
plentiful than now, cherishing a prejudice and dis- 
like of American invaders, and relying on their skill 
attained in the field in throwing the lariat, often 
illustrated their proficiency in this line by lassoing 
strangers who, travelling in an isolated manner, 
were met with. These, once being circled by the 
tightly drawn hide cord, were dragged from their 
footing or saddle over the rough ground until in- 
sensible, when they were despatched, and their bodies, 
after being rifled of any valuables, were thrown in 
some obscure place. Early Calif omians will remem- 
ber the frequency of such events, and a number of 
bodies were found so despatched in the region about us 
during our mountain sojourn. 

This condition put us on our guard in this re- 
spect, and I had reason to believe one day, when I 
was passing mounted along a valley trail of solitary 
aspect, that I was an object of interest to a rascally- 
looking Mexican, who was following me in saddle 
with his lariat coiled at his pommel head, and I in- 
creased my speed only to find that his was increased 



A Sportsman 27 

correspondingly, whereupon I quickly halted and put 
myself on foot beside my horse, and drew a bead 
upon him with my rifle; at which he, being beyond 
casting distance, made an extensive detour around 
and below me, and, after seeing him disappear on the 
trail below, I mounted and retraced my way back 
to our encampment. I was not much alarmed, for, 
though my rifle was a muzzle-loader, I had my nayy 
revolver at my belt, with which I was tolerably 
proficient, and I felt quite competent to stand off 
one or two Mexicans before they could come within 
casting distance. 

Some portions of the region about us were oc- 
cupied as cattle ranges, and some of the semi-wild 
bulls met with were well to avoid. We made no 
scruples in knocking over a calf or a young heifer 
occasionally for a change of diet, at which no in- 
quiries ever arose. At one time near us there was 
an encampment of cattle rustlers engaged in scoop- 
ing small herds, which they would cut out and drive 
to the extent of a day's trip and turn over to an 
associate band, which in turn would deliver to another 
which would market or distribute at some distant 
point. Those camped near us were a bad lot, being 
mostly Americans from the Middle West, and our 
relations were the least friendly with them. They 
were soon after driven away by the settlers in the 
valley. 

Some wild horses were about, but it was seldom 
that we saw any, and when seen they were a long 
distance away. 

A few Digger Indians still inhabited the region, 
but kept well out of sight, although their presence 



28 Reminiscences of 

was indicated by the removal of deer entrails, which 
was of frequent occurrence. This was evidenced by a 
clean removal of the offal, instead of being scattered 
about, as it would be by coyotes or other animals. 
The Digger Indian is pretty nearly extinct in the 
State now, and belongs to the lowest class of aborigines, 
living on roots, acorns, and offal of ancient date. 
I have seen them in some parts of the State, whole 
families, by the hour industriously engaged beneath 
some spreading pine tree, eating the meagre pit 
meats of the cones. The native clover flower tops 
are specially attractive to them, which they will sit 
among, and fill up their stomachs and skin bags. 
Grasshoppers they simply revel in and grow fat upon. 
Some years these are pests of such extent as to 
devastate large portions of the State, eating every- 
thing in sight, and are said to impudently ask the 
distracted farmer for chewing-gum and cigarettes. 
This season, however, is one of the Diggers' delight. 

The oak groves about me now (my residence in 
California) were once the habitat of many Digger 
Indians. No monuments have they left, and all that 
tells of their existence are the thousands of mortar 
holes in the flat rocks, many of which still contain 
the pestles of rude form with which they crushed the 
acorns for bread-making. On many flat rocks there 
are a dozen or more of mortar holes, large and small, 
and some of them worn down to a foot in depth, 
and many hundreds of such mortar holes are to be 
seen within a radius of a mile from where I am now 
writing. 

Ten or fifteen years ago a small band of these 
Indians yearly came about here, but I have not seen 



A Sportsman 29 

any about of late. Capt. John, the chief of a small 
band, was an old friend of mine, but has evidently- 
gone the way of his fathers. Attended by a small 
group of bucks and squaws he would regularly round 
up at my house, and, after a pleasant greeting, would 
accept an invitation to grub up with a load of cold 
meats, hams, bread, canned goods, etc., accompanied 
by sundry parcels of old clothes and hats; then, with 
an oleaginous smile over his swarthy visage, he would 
go to the clover valley below for encampment. 

Almost weekly during Capt. John's stay he would 
call around for a personal interview, the substance 
of which was to procure a dollar to purchase powder 
and balls to kill wild-cats, in evidence of which he 
would pull out of his hunting and grub sack a badly 
worn pelt of some ancient nondescript of abnormal 
origin, which would immediately satisfy me with the 
importance of his request. 

One of the first duties of Capt. John and his at- 
tendants was to disrobe and roll in the unctious 
mud of the mineral springs in the valley, and after- 
wards to sit in the sun on the ground for an hour or 
two coated with the mud, which was replenished at 
intervals by another application. The new portions 
added were poured down from the top of the head, 
and the appearance of those mud-cure zealots would 
discount any appearance yet given of the witches in 
Macbeth. From the mud to the water, and then 
with invigorated appetite to the clover beds, and in 
sequence to sweet repose, restful to the savage breast 
as to the luxurious visitor of modem curative sta- 
tions, was a frequent act of our first families of 
America. Capt. John seriously assured me that it 



30 Reminiscences of 

was a heap good for bone sick — evidently meaning 
for rheumatism. 

These Indians often engaged in gathering grass- 
hoppers when they were plentiful, in the following 
manner: First, by sinking a well-hole in a convenient 
locality, of some five or six feet in depth and of 
equal width, keeping it half full of water; then en- 
gaging all hands with bushes and tree branches in 
beating forward the grasshoppers on the ground to- 
ward and into the well, where they were soon drowned ; 
then heating some large stones on a fire made for the 
purpose, from which the stones were rolled forward 
when sufficiently heated into the well, and the 
water, heating up, cooked the hoppers. When ac- 
counted done by the head chef, the hoppers were 
raked out upon the adjoining ground to dry; the 
latter effect being reached, they were then packed 
away in skins for use. 

With them a good and prosperous season occurred 
when acorns and grasshoppers were plentiful. Even 
if the clover were deficient, it may be assumed that 
a good acorn stew enriched with a few handfuls of 
grasshoppers, and possibly a bunch or two of clover, 
would make a very appetizing meal for a Digger 
Indian as a change from pine cone, nuts, and ground 
squirrels. 

Although the Digger Indians in the State are now 
reduced to very small numbers, there are still a good 
many of other tribes, more conspicuous than the 
Diggers were for intelligence, some of whom in early 
days were conspicuous for their opposition to the 
white invaders. A few thousand of these still exist, 
huddled together in small squads in various sec- 



A Sportsman 31 

tions, on lands which they do not possess. Neither 
the State nor the General Government has ever given 
them any reservation or aid. Some work and others 
beg, but are imable to compete with the white people 
in the economic struggle for life. Exertions are now 
being made for them by the Northern California 
Indian Association, in which I am interested, from 
which it is expected that the remaining Indians in 
the State will have their conditions improved. 



AFTER returning to San Francisco from the moim- 
tains, I found myself still indisposed toward the 
confining life of business, and besides I was more in- 
dependently situated than before, having funds to 
my credit. 

Australia was attracting attention, and several 
newly-made friends of mine were engaging passage 
in a ship about to sail for Melbourne, and I se- 
riously thought of going with them, and selected 
a berth in the ship, but delayed in taking passage, and 
finally gave it up. I was largely influenced in this 
decision from the appearance of the ship, as it was 
a bad-smelling, imattractive old tub which gave me 
an unfavorable opinion of its capacity. Fortunate 
for me that I gave it up, for the ship was never heard 
of again after sailing, and it is not likely to be now, 
after the lapse of half a century. 

I continued to frequent the markets and shipping. 
One day I saw on a freshly arrived ship from China 
a lot of canary birds, several hundred in a large 
cage on the cabin deck, which interested me, and 
which I found belonged to the captain of the ship, 



32 Reminiscences of 

who had brought them over on a personal specula- 
tion, and that he had a lot of nested cages of bamboo 
to fit them out with for selling. I thought this a 
favorable opportunity for some work on my part, 
which ended in my purchase of the lot, birds and 
cages, for a thousand dollars, which gave the cap- 
tain a good profit. I did not have enough money to 
pay down for the lot, but easily arranged with the 
rotimd navigator to pay down what money I had 
and the balance in instalments, as I should take the 
birds away. 

I then set at work putting up the cages on the 
deck, with a bird in each, and, with some assistance, 
carried the cages with birds to different stores I had 
arranged with, where they were exposed for sale, 
and being the first lot of this character to arrive in 
that budding city, my expectations were fully real- 
ized by rapid sales at full prices, and, although I 
shared liberally with the shop sellers, I considerably 
increased my capital. 

Somewhat with the air of a capitalist, I then pro- 
posed to the market -man whom I had had dealings 
with in game that I should associate with him in 
his branching out in a more extensive business; that 
he should attend to the business in the city and I 
would go up to the alluvial lands in the bay, at the 
estuaries of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers 
where they debouched out over the flat tule lands, 
a great field for aquatic birds and salmon, and sup- 
ply him with such products for sale. He was a 
pretty clever business man, but intemperate and in- 
clined to various dissipations, which put me on guard, 
but he was willing, so we engaged. 



A Sportsman 33 

Although the game season was practicall}^ over, 
no laws existed for preservation — or at least were 
not regarded — and eatable birds of all kinds were 
freely sold. Salmon were rimning, and were ex- 
tensively seined by Italians and other fishermen, and 
a miscellaneous lot of fishes were netted, and birds 
were plentiful. I purchased and forwarded freely, 
and my man seemed capable of getting away with 
all I sent him, and generally at large profits. Salmon 
at times were so plentiful that I would occasionally 
buy them at ten or fifteen cents apiece and the city 
markets would become so glutted that the sales would 
be slow at five cents a pound, though the retail price 
would be a bit, or twelve cents. 

One day I met a Scotchman looking for employ- 
ment who claimed he was an adept at smoking salmon, 
and could at a moderate expense put up a smoking- 
plant. I engaged him and proceeded in this line, to 
great advantage, as it opened a market in the mines 
where fresh salmon could not reach; but others soon 
caught on, and on a more extensive scale than mine, 
and selling prices fell off. In fact the business of my 
associate began to diminish in profits, and considering 
his habits, as prosperity seemed to increase his ex- 
travagances, I concluded to pull out, which I suc- 
ceeded in doing with my full share of profits, which 
augmented my capital considerably. I concluded to 
retire and return to Boston by the Nicaragua route, 
where I arrived after a stay of a little less than a year 
in California. 

The familiarity gained with the overflowed lands 
of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers led to some 
extensive reclamation works of mine in later years. 



34 Reminiscences of 

I established my residence in Boston for a series 
of years, though I made five round trips to CaH- 
fomia before i860, and have since made those jour- 
neys over a score of times, besides eighteen round 
trips across the Atlantic to Europe. I crossed the 
great plains from the Missouri River to the Rocky 
Moimtains four times from 1865 to 1867, before the 
completion of a railroad there. 

After my return from California I found a great 
difficulty in reconciling myself to the quiet of town 
life, however much the necessity existed for appli- 
cation to business pursuits, as my inclinations were 
strongly for adventurous ramblings. Always a con- 
stant reader, I found quite perceptibly to myself that 
my tendency was directed largely to the perusal of 
sporting articles, which conflicted with my resolutions 
to follow business affairs. This determined me to 
give up entirely the perusal of books treating of 
sporting and adventurous affairs, which inflamed my 
imagination with longings, and for several years I 
adhered strictly to this resolution. 

From Boston I made frequent winter trips for 
pickerel fishing through the ice at favorite New Eng- 
land ponds, a sport which I enjoyed very much for 
a change, for, although the fishing was somewhat tame, 
the auxiliaries of the skating, tramping, and lunching 
by the open fires at the pond sides gave a pleasant 
relaxation. During the summers I gave much of my 
time to brook fishing in the White Mountain regions, 
where I felt that I acquired a dexterity in trans- 
ferring the brook-trout to my creel, after scoring from 
three to five himdred in a day's fishing. 

I am almost ashamed to relate what I would now 



A Sportsman 35 

shrink from doing, even if I had the physical activity 
to accomplish it, concerning a score that I made one 
day on a branch of the Saco River. Then, before the 
railroad invasion and the present overrunning of the 
region about Conway and Jackson, the brooks were 
alive with trout. 

There had been a rivalry among the comparatively 
few summer visitors as to a day's catch, and I then 
undertook to make a record — a foolish effort of young 
aspiration, and I will acknowledge the folly of such 
actions, although the demand for the delicate and tooth- 
some brook-trout served to prevent any useless waste. 
I camped over night upon the stream with two com- 
rades, W. T. Bramhall, of Boston, now deceased, and 
Gilbert E. Jones, of New York, at one time the owner 
of the New York Times and an enthusiastic sports- 
man, who also made a great record for the day. I 
commenced fishing at five o'clock in the morning 
and fished fourteen hours, until seven, scarcely wait- 
ing for any rest or lunch, and quit earlier than I 
should have but for a severe thunder-storm which 
wet us to the skin, and whose vivid flashes of light- 
ning were required to get us out of the woods to 
our team at a neighboring town. My catch was 
seven hundred and sixty-eight trout, or an average 
of fifty-five trout an hour. In verification we counted 
over the catch twice upon our return to the Kearsarge 
House, where they were all consumed. 

Such fishing was devoid of the pleasant contem- 
plation of nature's attractions, which should be the 
main object of a sportsman's life, and an illustration 
of the feverish excitement which too often reigns 
within the human breast. I will own that many 



36 Reminiscences of 

times in my early sporting life with gun and rod, 
I have overlooked the calm consideration I should 
have given preference. 

In 1858 I made in the winter an excursion in 
Maine to the Rangeley Lakes near the Canada line, 
which set a color upon my sporting horizon which 
has never been effaced, and since that period I have 
never failed, amid the cares of an active business life, 
to visit that region annually. Those trips at times 
have been difficult to arrange when I have been 
absent in distant places, but I have not failed in some 
month of each year since 1858 to rendezvous at the 
Rangeleys for from one to four and six months. 

Reports of unusually large trout at those lakes 
had reached me for a year or two before the trip in 
December of 1858, and some question existed if those 
trout were of the Fontinalis species, as they had not 
been so designated by a competent ichthyologist. I 
arranged with three friends equally interested in the 
subject for an excursion there, and after two days 
from leaving the Grand Trunk Railroad, breaking 
our way with team for forty miles through the snow, 
we arrived at one of the lakes of the chain. The 
last half of the distance through the forest was over 
an old logging road which had not been broken out 
that season, over which our progress was slow. 

It was about dark when we installed ourselves in 
a dilapidated old logging camp at the foot of the 
lake, and the following day proceeded over the ice 
and its accumulated snow for a distance of six miles, 
camping at and making headquarters in a compara- 
tively good logging camp by the shore. We had 
a single horse "pung" which we retained, sending 



A Sportsman 37 

back to the last settlement, twenty miles distant, our 
double team sled, after depleting it of our personal 
effects, provisions, guns, lines, etc., with instructions 
to return for us in ten days. We had two guides, 
one of whom, Milton Cutting, for thirty-three years 
afterwards regularly accompanied me in all my trips 
to the lakes, until his advancing years compelled 
his retirement thirteen years ago, but is still living 
at about eighty years of age upon his small farm; I have 
since contributed to him the yearly sum of dollars equal 
to his age, and he has frequently remarked to me the 
increasing interest he has taken in growing old. 

The ice was thick, but we soon got through it 
with our chisels, and in retired coves we caught bait 
of chubs and shiners, which equipped our set lines, 
and we found trout enough to enable us to fetch out 
upon our return to civilized regions between five and 
six hundred poimds in a frozen state to dispense 
among our friends. 

Frozen fish in the ordinary sense is not usually 
acceptable, for one cannot tell how long it may have 
been between catching and freezing, or how effectual 
the freezing was, or if there inay not have been 
a thawing out and refreezing, or exposure to sun 
while frozen, or various other causes affecting the 
quality. But any fish well frozen immediately after 
catching, and so kept without exposure to sun, 
and slowly thawed out in water in a cool place, will 
be found to retain all the dehcate qualities of fresh 
life despite all prejudices to the contrary. In fact 
with care the most delicate fish, being cold-blooded, 
can be frozen up before life has gone, and so kept 
frozen for a period of days and then be thawed out 



38 Reminiscences of 

to active life again, which I have often clearly dem- 
onstrated, but of which I shall not here go into de- 
tails, reserving that feature for more particular men- 
tion and details of in extenso which will be included 
in the chapters I shall hereafter give concerning trout 
and its habits. 

We found the trout plentiful and in fine condition, 
as they are apt to be in favorable waters beneath the 
ice in the month of December. In that month in 
northern climes they are in good form, and also in 
January, although from February and through March 
and April they are more sluggish, and very many go 
down to a depth and even into the soft mud at the 
bottom of the lake, where they remain in a semi- 
dormant condition, and those which continue to 
circulate about are by March comparatively slow 
in movement and appetite. As the weather moder- 
ates in April more activity is shown, and in May, 
when the ice generally goes out of the Maine north- 
em lakes by the early part or the middle of the month, 
they are again in full activity. 

The same semi-dormant feature is shown in all 
the varieties of the small fry of minnows and chubs, 
which can be plentifully caught with a small hook 
for bait for a few weeks after the ice makes, and in 
fact seem more plentiful after the first freezing over 
than at any time; almost wholly disappearing by 
March, and so difficult have I found it in the latter 
month to get live bait at the lakes that I have had to 
send out twenty or thirty miles at times to get bait 
from spring holes in the adjoining coimtry. Then a 
good bait would be almost equivalent to a trout. 

I have foimd that for the first week after the 



A Sportsman 39 

freezing over of the lake, when the fresh ice would 
not be more than two inches in thickness, phenom- 
enal catches could be made of trout, as they would 
seem to be exhilarated by the new condition as much 
as lads would be with fresh skating. After ten or 
twelve days a noticeable falling off in activity and 
feeding occurs, which continues to increase until 
warmer weather comes. 

We kept a careful weight of all our trout, noting 
down our catch each night, and we found our average 
to be one and a third pounds ; our largest trout weigh- 
ing a fraction over eight, and our smallest were a 
quarter of a pound. Upon our return to Boston I 
carried out several of the largest to Louis Agassiz, 
the distinguished naturalist and scientist, then living 
at Cambridge at the head of the Museum of Compar- 
ative Zoology, who made careful examination and 
pronoimced them of the true Fontinalis family, but 
gave them a distinctiveness over other trout from 
their large size and habitat. 

It would be difficult to find more beautiful and 
perfect trout than those of the Rangeley waters, or 
any of higher game qualities. At all seasons of the 
year they are full and superior in flavor excepting 
the meagre milters in the autumn, who may be well 
discarded from the table despite their brilliant hues. 
But the spawners even up to the time of their 
emissions are of delicate taste. I have since 1858 
yearly fished these lakes, and taken many thou- 
sands of trout there, and have found them in the 
qualities I have designated more uniform than from 
any other waters, although no shadow can be cast 
upon many other localities. 



40 Reminiscences of 

Maine is famous for its rivers, lakes, and ponds, 
which cover nearly one tenth of its surface. Its 
waters are mainly clear from excess of organic matter, 
where fish life is conspicuous for game qualities, 
which I have evidenced from personal experience 
at several score of localities in that State. It is 
not essential that trout waters should be of high 
translucent character as ordinarily supposed, and I 
have observed that trout waters of that character 
are generally lacking in numbers and size of trout 
compared with those more opaque and plentiful with 
infusorial life. The protozoa element is the basic 
foimdation of fish life, and possibly of all other. 
It consists of an endless variety of Poligastrica and 
Rotatoria, white pulpy substances of life, which in 
favorable waters are of pin -head size, while the bulk 
are invisible to the naked eye. This infusorial ele- 
ment is the primary constituent essential to young 
fish life. The young trout or salmon, when relieved 
of the umbilical sac, is of minute proportions, and is 
unable to live upon the surface ephemera or food of 
after life, and subsists wholly upon the infusoria, as 
do all the small fry generally designated as minnows, 
of which there are a dozen varieties in the Rangeley 
waters. It is also the principal food of the fresh- 
water smelts. 

The profusion of small fish in the lakes supplying 
the principal food of the trout and salmon accounts 
for their number and superiority, without which they 
would be lacking, so that in reality the primitive 
cause is the infusorial element. This element abounds 
in all ponds, lakes, rivers, and even ditches where 
decaying vegetable and animal matter exists, and in 



A Sportsman 41 

coiintless profusion. It is found in thermal springs, 
and rivulets flowing from snow-banks and glaciers, 
and in salt as well as fresh water. No form of life 
can be more universal and extensive, while of so 
minute a character in the sea and in many fresh 
waters as to require the strongest magnifying power 
to clearly observe. Even distilled water, upon ex- 
posure to the air, will exhibit the life. Freezing 
does not destroy it, nor will a deprivation of its watery 
element. It may be dried in the sun for many days, 
but its germ form when drifted with the dust to 
reviving waters will again take on active life. Ehren- 
berg, a celebrated German authority upon the subject, 
estimates the reproduction capacity of a single one to 
exceed 200,000,000 in the space of a month. The 
variety of infusoria is extensive, more than a hundred 
being classified. 

The remarkable feature of this element in the 
Rangeley Lakes, which by no means is limited to 
these waters, is the comparatively large size of the 
infusoria, which is undoubtedly gained by the large 
quantities of vegetable stain from the adjoining 
forests. The water is by no means clear, occasioned 
by the excess drainage from the woods. On a favor- 
able day, with the sun's rays aslant, the protozoa 
element is clearly discernible to the naked eye. The 
most favorable occasion for observing it without 
magnifying power — ^for I have never applied the 
latter — is in the winter at the surface of a hole cut 
through the ice. Here, after a day or two, the larger 
infusoria will collect, doubtless attracted by the light, 
when those of a large size will be observed. 

On this my first trip in the winter to the lake I 



42 Reminiscences of 

was attracted by this feature while playing with 
trout through the ice. I would select a good locality 
where the water was not over eight or nine feet in 
depth, with a sandy bottom. Lying upon some 
blankets, with a single one over my head, and a hook- 
less line with a small chub tied at the end and a 
sufficient sinker, I would bob for the trout, which after 
a while would come swimming along, and, noticing 
the bait, would, first indifferently, but afterwards more 
vigorously, engage with it. By drawing away the 
bait at the critical moment, after considerable teasing 
the trout would follow it up, and having a fair-sized 
hole of something less than a foot square, I would 
shortly get the trout up near the bottom ice, and finally, 
at a last excited dash, rapidly withdraw the bait en- 
tirely, with my hand at my side. The trout, following 
to the surface in its excitement, would for a moment 
be too confused to dive below, giving me in that 
moment the opportunity to rapidly put my hands 
below and cast him out upon the ice, unharmed, but 
much alarmed. This may appear difficult to do, but 
is really quite simple, and I have taken four or five 
trout in a forenoon from a single hole in this manner. 
The clear, sandy bottom, and the thin blanket head 
cover, which by no means excluded the light, gave 
abundant opportimity to observe that the white 
specks at first mistaken for pollen, or other foreign 
intrusion, had a motion equal to several inches in 
a short time, and could be observed in the still water 
moving in various directions, some apparently with 
a revolving motion, and others without visible ac- 
tion. Many have advanced the spontaneity or pro- 
toplasm theory concerning the protozoa, which is a 



A Sportsman 43 

subject of much discussion, and lately a prominent 
German savant has advanced the theory that this 
element is the primitive origin of all life — all vege- 
table and animal — ^which now exists upon the earth. 
This is a somewhat startling theory, but that life must 
necessarily have started upon this once molten mass 
in a very primitive form is clearly evident, but how, 
may or may not be solved. 

The snow was between two and three feet deep 
at the period of our visit, with frequent new falls, 
and I amused myself by making snow-shoe excursions 
in the forest about the lake. 



ONE day I came across the footprints of an ani- 
mal, evidently of more magnitude than those 
made by a deer, and upon brushing out the tracks I 
found the imprint evidently of a cow or ox. I related 
this to the guides, and observed their immediate 
fixed attention and interest. They informed me no 
cow or ox could be found in the region about, and 
that I had certainly found a moose track, which we 
could easily trail, for he could not be many miles off, 
and that we would go after him the next day. 

With lunch in our pockets we started at an early 
hour, fully prepared for a brush with a monarch of the 
northern woods. An examination of the tracks speed- 
ily determined the direction to take, and we had no 
difficulty in following them, although a foot of snow 
had fallen since the passage of the moose — for the 
tracks clearly indicated such to be the maker of 
the tell-tale guides. My men said his escape was 



44 Reminiscences of 

impossible, it being only a question of time and dis- 
tance, and that it would* not travel far in the deep 
snow, over which we would proceed with little fatigue. 
It was some hours, however, before we grew warm on 
the trail, and about noon before we reached a place in 
the black growth where the moose had apparently 
yarded for several days, from which he had broken 
out upon our approach, before we saw him. At 
this time we redoubled our speed, and in less than a 
mile brought him at bay where the snow was too heavy 
for his further rapid progress. Here the moose broke 
down the snow about him to give himself foot room, 
and stood facing us in defiance. It was an exciting 
moment, and taking as careful aim as I could, I fired 
at his front. My shot seemed to have little effect, for, 
instead of breaking away, he commenced to increase 
his circle of enclosure, about which he moved with 
alacrity foreboding possible harm if he should charge 
us, and we each sought the shelter of neighboring trees 
to be prepared for his possible advance, and from 
here I gave a shot which brought him down on 
his knees, from which he soon toppled over, and the 
end came. It was a large bull and in good flesh, 
but bereft of horns, which had been lately shed. 
Skinning and dressing him, we hung up all to freeze 
excepting a hind quarter and a few parts which my 
men dragged on an improvised sled to camp. The 
following day the men returned for the balance, 
making two trips, and were enabled to portage all 
to camp on the long packing sled with which we 
were provided, but attended with much labor. We 
were three miles from camp, and did not arrive until 
some time after sundown. 



A Sportsman 45 

No legal restrictions affecting moose or deer ex- 
isted in Maine at that time, or if there were any, 
no attention was given, but game laws of late years 
have been rigidly guarded by wardens, under extreme 
penalties. Despite wardens and penalties, however, 
quite a sprinkling of killing has annually occurred 
in remote districts; but the general protection af- 
forded, and the prohibition of market game selling, 
has had a very salutary result in increasing big game, 
especially deer. 

Moose still are found about the lakes, in a forest 
yet unbroken which extends far into the wilder- 
ness. Though still scarce, they have of late increased, 
owing to the rigid enforcement of laws restricting 
their killing to a very short period during the year. 
A penalty of $500 is exacted for this killing out of 
season. The killing of caribou is entirely prohibited 
at any time. Moose killing, when permitted, is con- 
fined wholly to bulls beyond two years of age. It 
has always seemed to me as if the moose were a 
modem survival of the ancient period, to be linked 
with the Irish elk and mastodon, and other prehistoric 
animals, and most likely with the musk ox, elephant, 
giraffe, and other unwieldy, cumbrous creations doomed 
to disappear before the progress of man, as we have 
seen the buffalo in our day. 

I note quite recently the approaching extinction 
of the great Kadiak bear of Alaska — the largest in the 
world, exceeding even the mammoth grizzly of the 
Sierras, — which, inhabiting a limited district about 
the estuaries of the Karluk River, where within 
a few years as many as fifteen were sighted by an 
observer in one day, are now difficult to sight at all, 



46 Reminiscences of 

and have by last accounts had their comparatively 
limited tract invaded by the ever-penetrating do- 
mestic sheep. 

A conflict is now on between the sheep men and 
the bears. The latter evincing their taste for mutton 
in the waiting season for salmon — their main food — 
have arousedt he former in defence, and the almost 
inevitable ^result will be extermination. A friend 
of mine has in his possession a Kadiak bear skia of 
enormous proportions, measuring from nose to end 
of body nine feet, with a width in the middle of eight 
feet. This may be a champion brown bear skin, and 
from one which was estimated, although not au- 
thenticated by sufficient evidence, at 2400 pounds. 

I have measured an enormous polar bear skia 
which measured about the size of the Kadiak skin, 
but the polar bear does reach the weight of the grizzly 
family, being more siquous in form. 

I would not now hunt and kill moose in the snow, 
and at this time I look upon it with regret and con- 
sider it unworthy of selection by a sportsman unless 
necessitated by need of food, and confess to having 
aided in killing two others in a similar manner, as 
well as deer. There are many things in later life I 
have to regret of acts in early days, as I doubt not 
others have. Youth is more eager and thoughtless, 
and less governed by reflection than age, as eagerness 
overtops reason, and I fear there are many of mature 
age who fail to recognize the claims of right over 
inborn selfishness and destructive impulses. 

I have occasionally met moose in the Maine woods. 
One day in a birch canoe, rounding a point on the 
Megalloway River, we ran close upon a large cow 



A Sportsman 47 

feeding on the lily pads, with her calf on the shore. 
She was just raising her head with a mouthful of 
pads, and stood motionless for a few moments gaz- 
ing at our sudden intrusion, and then leisurely moved 
to the shore and with her offspring quietly disap- 
peared in the woods. Another day, while being driven 
on a buckboard from the lake over a long logging road, 
and some miles from any settlement, we encountered 
a large bull feeding by the roadside. He exhibited no 
alarm, trotted along the road ahead of us for a quarter 
of a mile, and finally turned and faced us from the 
centre of the road. As the rutting season was on, and 
occasions were not rare when at that season moose had 
attacked teams, we came to a halt. Our horses 
exhibited alarm, and we felt some ourselves, and 
looked about for tree shelter in case of a charge. But 
the moose relieved us in a few moments by side-track- 
ing in the woods, leaving us a free road. Another day 
I came upon a bull in the closed season for moose, 
but an open one for deer stalking, which I was 
engaged in, when the attitude of the bull convinced 
me of the prudence of retreating, which I expedited 
without delay. 

It is quite common for bull moose at certain sea- 
sons to charge any one met with in the woods, but 
they are more easily evaded by one active of foot 
than one would suppose, by dodging around trees, 
and especially windfalls if they are adjacent, and 
I know several hunters who have escaped such at- 
tacks, and in some instances have been treed for 
hours. Moose have been known to swim out in 
the water and upset boats which have excited their 
resentment. 



48 Reminiscences of 

A few years ago a friend of mine, Captain Barker, 
while running his steamer across a lake, observed a 
large bull swimming ahead for the shore, upon which 
he ran his boat up, and skilfully threw a noosed 
rope over the bull's horns, and conducted him to 
the shore, where, after some manoeuvring, he man- 
aged to secure the end of the rope to a tree, and held 
the moose there for several days. He indicated a 
very fierce disposition, refusing to eat, and charging to 
the end of his reach any who approached his vicinity. 
After a few days' captivity he was released by cutting 
his rope with a knife fastened to a long pole, and 
the moose went off with his head-works adorned 
with a dangling tie of doubtful comeliness. 

As I was engaged one morning on my first trip 
to the lakes attending alone a few set lines, I was 
startled in looking up to see three deer standing not 
far from me on the ice, but presently, after satisfy- 
ing their curiosity, they trotted off into the woods 
below me. After my success with the moose, I was 
excited for a chase after the deer, as the snow was 
favorable, and leaving my lines I returned to camp 
a mile distant, when, securing my gun, hatchet, and 
a pocketful of lunch, I started back alone for the 
trail. No one was at camp but the cook, whom I 
told to mention to my comrades that I was off on a 
hunt, and to have no anxiety if I did not return at 
night. I returned to the trail from the lake, and 
followed the deer. 

The days were then short, and the deer had travelled 
better than I expected they would, and it was near 
dark before I came near enough to get in a shot, 
which was harmless, while they were moving on with 



A Sportsman 49 

a speed increased by my near approach. If it had 
been earher in the day my method would have been 
to press them to the utmost, but it was too late, and 
I had to look around for a camping spot, which I 
selected by a large dead fallen pine partly imbedded 
in the snow, but having limbs to pull upon for fuel. 
It was bitterly cold, as it had been growing colder all 
day, and somewhat below zero, as I found upon my 
return to camp. My hatchet was a poor substitute 
for an axe, but I managed to pile up a good supply 
for my night fire, but which proved insufficient before 
morning, and at three o'clock I had again to supply 
more wood, but considering it was the first night's 
camping in the snow, which generally is not so com- 
fortable as the following, I got along by the fire pretty 
well, though not overburdened with sleep, and I felt 
quite ready to go on as soon as the first glimmerings of 
light appeared. 

I found within a quarter of a mile where the deer 
had lain down in the night, and the beds had not 
frozen where they had rested, which was very en- 
couraging, showing that their departure had but 
briefly preceded my arrival. They, however, got 
along better than I expected, and more than an 
hour passed before I overtook them, which was a 
signal for them to divide, as they usually do when 
hard pressed. Selecting the largest one I followed 
it for a mile or so before I brought him up, which 
proved to be a pretty good-sized buck, which I quickly 
gave the quietus to from my rifle. Giving the finishing 
stroke with my knife, I disembowelled him, hanging 
him up to freeze, and followed my trail back to the- 
lake, between four and five miles. It was a bright^ 



50 Reminiscences of 

cold morning, and my steps were light from elation 
at my success, and I inwardly vowed I would have 
more of it. 

That following night was the coldest we experi- 
enced on our trip, the mercury sinking down to twenty- 
six degrees below zero, but we were very comfortable. 

It is not so cold as it would seem, in the dry alti- 
tude of the lakes, 1500 feet above sea level, at twenty 
degrees below zero, when top coats are discarded 
in the woods and on the lake when knocking about. 
But when the wind blows it is another matter, and 
even with a gentle breeze at twenty degrees of freezing 
it will cut, and with a gale or blizzard at fifteen or 
twenty degrees below zero — which is not infrequent — 
one must be well housed, or, if not, snugly ensconced 
in the lee of the gale in a deep sunken pit in the snow 
with plenty of firewood. 

When camping out in the snow one hardly needs 
blankets, and it has not been my habit to pack 
them in many camping-out trips I have made in the 
winter, excepting sometimes a half one. I have de- 
pended upon keeping up a good fire all night, and 
of sleeping on a thick layer of hemlock boughs, 
where with feet to the fire and fully clothed, with 
sleeping-cap and ear-pads and thick woollen gloves, 
I have passed many comfortable nights, and my 
memory now often vividly reverts to the overflowing 
happiness I experienced upon those excursions as the 
most enjoyable of my life. 



A Sportsman 51 

IN California, short as my stay was, I made some 
* friends with whom for many years afterwards I 
sustained pleasant relations, all of whom have now 
passed away. It was in San Francisco I met Edwin 
Booth, at the rooms of a fencing master, where we 
were both receiving instructions, and formed a friend- 
ship with him which continued through his life. His 
father, Junius Brutus Booth, then near sixty years 
of age, was playing the last engagement of his life at 
the American theatre, and died that year, soon after, 
on a Mississippi River steamer. Edwin at that time 
had not appeared on the stage, excepting in a few 
minor parts, and I accompanied him at his invitation 
several times to witness the performances of his father. 
The latter was then exhibiting the peculiarities of his 
disposition, bordering on insanity, and accentuated 
by his over-indulgence in spirituous liquors. One night 
while playing Richard III. with his accustomed energy 
and fire, he left the stage and strode into a lower box 
adjoining, which was empty, and commenced singing 
a bacchanalian song to the boisterous admiration of 
the audience. Edwin, much chagrined, left my side 
for his father, whom he persuaded to retire, and 
after awhile to go on with his part in the play. 

Another evening performance was the occasion of 
an amusing incident in one of the second-tier boxes 
occupied by a man and woman. The attention of the au- 
dience was drawn by the bibulous attentions of the 
man, evidently a returned miner with dust, and whose 
companion indicated her classification with the fanciful 
order ; and' she seemed also under the effects of infla- 
tion. This side -play had been apparent for some time, 
while the actors were quite oblivious of the amused 



52 Reminiscences of 

attention they were attracting. This became so conspic- 
uous that finally Booth paused in the midst of the part 
he was playing, and, advancing toward the box and 
pointing his hand toward it, said, in his dramatic man- 
ner, which brought down the house: "When this side- 
play is over, we will proceed. ' ' It required a little time 
for the audience to settle down to the regular bill of 
the evening, while the box players retired from the 
front to the obscurity of the rear. 

I did not see Edwin again imtil a number of years 
had passed, when he had become famous, meeting 
him at the Tremont House in Boston, where I was 
residing, and there became acquainted with his wife, 
his mother, and sister Rosahe, and his brothers, 
John Wilkes and Joseph. John Wilkes Booth, after- 
ward so infamous as the assassin of our President 
Lincoln, appeared to me as very companionable and 
cheerful, and many pleasant smokes I had with him, 
little suspecting that he would achieve the infamous 
notoriety he did. Though having some extrava- 
gant and peculiar ways, they were less conspicuous 
than those which Edwin evinced, or those seen in 
two others of the family. There was, however, a strain 
of pecuHarity in the children, doubtless inherited from 
the father, which was quite evident. But if I had 
been asked to designate one of the children most free 
and sensible, I should have given John Wilkes, for 
despite his somewhat rollicking and moderately reck- 
less way, he seemed very sensible. He was then 
playing an engagement, as was Edwin, in the city. 
Both were handsome and attractive, and received 
many missives from the gentler sex, who admired 
them. To those Edwin gave little attention, not only 



A Sportsman 53 

from having married a few months before, but from 
a disinclination and principle, as he on several occa- 
sions remarked to me, and that he immediately de- 
stroyed such letters, excepting in some instances, 
when he returned them with sensible advice to desist. 

One evening while we were all after dinner in the 
Booths' sitting-room, a card was brought in from a 
young lady who requested an interview with Edwin. 
He smiled and told the boy to say he was engaged, 
when his wife, amused, said : 

"No; let her come up. I am anxious to see what 
kind of yoimg ladies are after you, and how she will 
appear with us all here." 

So the yotmg lady was brought up — and a bloom- 
ing, exuberant young lass she was — ushered in, 
holding a large bouquet for Edwin. She was com- 
pletely staggered by the standing committee which 
received her, and it was rather distressing to see 
her confusion and awkward dilemma and hear her 
choking words, that she had "brought the bouquet 
for Mr. Booth." Edwin accepted the flowers, and 
thanked her, at which she retired, with an experience 
unlooked for. 

From Boston we all, including Walter M. Brackett, 
the celebrated artist, his wife, and young son, — except- 
ing John Wilkes, — made an excursion to the Umbagog 
Lake in New Hampshire, stopping at a moderate -sized 
hotel at Upton, kept by S. F. Frost. I remember his 
initials distinctly because we called him Superfine, at 
which he would give a winning smile. Dan Setchell, 
a comic actor and a particular friend of Edwin's, 
accompanied us; also some Baltimore friends of Ed- 
win's — a gentleman and his not long- wedded wife. 



54 Reminiscences of 

We remained at Upton about two weeks and had a 
merry time, making excursions on the lake to fishing 
places on an old tub of a boat which towed logs, 
proudly commanded by Captain Bennett, who had 
acted as guide in the woods with me on several occa- 
sions, and who now approached work about as near 
as he ever allowed himself. We made picnic trips 
to neighboring brooks, and altogether had an enjoy- 
able season. Dan Setchell, a most amusing comic 
actor of good taste, never allowed the hours to flag, 
and the practical jokes he perpetrated are beyond 
recoimt. Poor Dan — ^imknown to present fame — ^was 
lost at sea not long afterwards, his ship going down 
in a gale with all on board. 

Even then, the anti-liquor movement in Maine had 
commenced, and spirituous fluids were restricted from 
sale, but our landlord, Superfine, kept a private stock, 
limited, however, to one kind, and that was gin, which 
he had — of probably doubtful quality — in his cellar. 
Setchell made the discovery, and upon request Super- 
fine brought up a medium-sized pitcher full, and placed 
it on the sitting-room table. The pitcher was a glass 
one, and had an appearance of containing the limpid 
fluid of the well. Booth had not yet come in, and Dan 
immediately conceived the idea of putting up a joke 
on him, as he would be likely to join in a pull on a some- 
what neglected line. Obtaining an empty bottle he 
poured a portion of the gin into it, leaving the balance 
in the pitcher, and calling in Booth iaformed him of the 
discovered essence of jimiper, and having lemon and 
sugar at hand prepared a gin toddy for good old times. 
We watered our toddies from an adjacent supply, 
leaving Booth to fill his from the pitcher on the table, 



A Sportsman 55 

which led him from the first taste to denounce the 
strength of his portion and to add more from the 
pitcher, fiUing his glass nearly to its brim. We had 
a difficulty in concealing our hilarity, while Booth, 
with a wry face, bolted the greater part of his glass, 
and declared by the horns of the sacred bull that if 
liquor restrictions in Maine resulted in yielding liquors 
of the strength of ours, there was still a balm in 
Gilead. Pretty soon he gave us a hornpipe jig in 
double time, and discovered our excess of mirth, which 
no longer had cause to be concealed. 

Booth was in his prime, and constitutionally sub- 
ject to varying moods ; at times highly elated, followed 
by great depressions, and both would go to extremes. 
He fought hard against these tendencies, as against 
his disposition to indulge too freely in drink, and in 
the later years of his life largely overcame these 
features. 

In fishing he would exhibit the impetuosity of a 
Petruchio, and this cost me several rods, which he 
broke into smithereens over small trout. He got in 
one day from a neighboring town a new fairly good 
bamboo fly rod, which I assisted him in setting up, 
arranging the reel and line and pliable soaked leader, 
and left him afterwards noosing on a scarlet ibis. 
The rod was lying on the dining-room table. I was 
no sooner out of the rooms on the porch, when I heard 
a tremendous rumpus in the dining-room, and enter- 
ing fotmd Booth flying about the room like a mad- 
man. He had left his fly hanging over the side of 
the table, which the half -grown family cat present, 
seeing, struck at with its paw, which the sharp hook 
caught in, and the frightened cat bolted under the 



56 Reminiscences of 

table with rapid speed, breaking the rod tip and drag- 
ging the rod after, while Booth, crying "scat, cat," 
had no effect on the now crazed feline, which he 
was following after in great excitement at high pres- 
sure with adjectives of singular note. The sequel of 
this was the escape of the cat with the gaudy fly well 
hooked in its foot, and a well smashed-up rod. I was 
too much convulsed, with the others drawn in by the 
commotion, to render any aid, and Booth soon joined 
in with our laughter, confessing that his fishing ex- 
perience was a failure, and that he would not have any 
more of it. 

Booth frequently regaled us with stories of his 
stage experience, and I remember of his saying that 
his father was at one time very friendly and intimate 
with Edwin Forrest, after whom he was named, and 
how well he remembered the affection of Forrest for 
him in his youth, and how often Forrest had held him 
in his lap, and told him little stories, and how soon 
that affection passed away when he was reaching 
success on the stage, and commenced playing parts 
which Forrest considered his own; that this jealousy 
of Forrest's concentrated to an intense hatred, as 
indicated on several occasions afterwards. Forrest 
was a man of intense prejudices and dislikes, and yet 
of gentle and loving disposition toward those he 
trusted. He was as simple as a child in many ways, 
and as appreciative as a sensitive woman to deHcate 
attentions. His physique was magnificent and power- 
ful, and 'among the parts he played Othello would 
seem to have been more his prototype than any other 
character illustrated by the divine poet. He nourished 
an imfortunate inherent hatred and vindictiveness 



A Sportsman 57 

constitutional with him against those he considered 
his enemies, for real or fancied wrongs, and would go to 
any extent to express, unworthy of the natural no- 
bility of his caste. I had occasion to meet him a good 
many times. 

Edwin Forrest's most intimate and ever-trusted 
friend — in whom he placed implicit faith and who 
was worthy of it — ^was James Oakes, of Boston, now 
with Forrest gone away. He was a man among men, 
and of most sterling qualities and as true as steel in 
his friendship, which exceeded that of any man I 
have ever known for devotion, and for befriending 
those whom misfortimes had prostrated. I am famil- 
iar with numerous instances. No matter what oc- 
curred from poverty or disgrace to any friend of his, 
he held to his -unwavering friendship to the grave, 
and would follow to the last rites of burial, and I 
have known him to lay out the bodies of his dear 
friends without aid from others. I felt great satis- 
faction in his friendship, which I clung to through his 
life, and which I now hold in pleasant memory. He 
lived at the Tremont House, where I resided for a 
number of years, and we were companions at the 
dining-table, and of many pleasant evenings passed 
in converse. 

Forrest made frequent visits from Philadelphia, his 
home, to pass some days with Oakes, whom he so 
often told me was his dearest friend on earth, and 
whom he treasured beyond words. Mr. Oakes was 
cultivated in his literary taste, and was acknowledged 
as a forcible critic of dramatic works and dramatic 
renditions. Forrest told me that Oakes, as his dearest 
friend, was the severest critic on his acting of any he 



58 Reminiscences of 

had ever encountered, and from him Forrest sub- 
mitted to anything. I believe if Oakes had requested 
him to go out and walk around the block half a dozen 
times, without assigning any reason, that Forrest 
would readily have done it. The first time he came to 
visit Oakes at the Tremont House, I saw him seated 
with him at the table ; I quietly took a seat at another, 
leaving the two loving friends together. Forrest ob- 
serving this, from evident remarks of Oakes, asked 
him to invite me to my usual seat, which I afterward 
occupied and which led to further intimacy, and I was 
after invited by them to pass the evenings in Oakes 's 
sitting-room, where Forrest made free in familiar 
conversation. Oakes often asked Forrest to recite, 
and read extracts from favorite authors, especially 
from Shakespeare, which Forrest was ever willing to 
do, and there was an interest and impressiveness in 
such which exceeded that of stage renderings. Oakes 
would sometimes require Forrest to repeat or read over 
passages several times, expressing his critical review, 
which Forrest would assent to with most gracious 
gentleness. The Lord's Prayer I have several times 
heard Forrest repeat with an impressiveness which a 
pulpit orator could well envy. Scriptural readings 
were favorites, especially the psalms and proverbs. 

Oakes was well known in the earlier days from his 
critical articles and reviews over the signature of 
"Acorn," and his stepson, Thomas K. Batelle, was 
also a sporting writer of considerable prominence, 
over the signature of "Corinthian Tom." I knew 
him during my earliest days in California, and our 
friendly relations were continued;! until ; his death, 
some twenty-five years ago. 



A Sportsman 59 

The father of Batelle was a prominent shipping 
merchant of Newburyport, Mass., in the earHer days 
when that town was more prominent in extended 
commercial affairs than now, and from this town 
came several prominent men I have known: Caleb 
Gushing, George Peabody, George Limt, and others. 

Two sisters of Tom Batelle, Garafelia and Caro- 
line, were the wives of the two Chickering brothers, 
Thomas and Frank, sons of Jonas Chickering, the 
inventor and large manufacturer of the Chickering 
piano. All are gone of whom I write, and it would 
seem that soon the reader and I will join the "in- 
numerable caravan." 

An incident occurred at Upton which had a sequel 
twenty-five years afterward, that I am reminded of. 
The young wife of Booth's friend from Baltimore, 
with her husband, were to accompany us one day on a 
general party picnic we were jointly to give at a brook- 
side a few miles from our hotel. Some were to go 
in a large wagon, and the balance on horseback on 
the somewhat motley collection of equines foimd by 
Edwin in our vicinity. Mrs. Booth and Mrs. Brown, 
the Baltimore wife, Edwin Booth, Dan Setchell, and I 
were to go au cheval. It was with difficulty that we 
found two ladies' saddles, and they were not particu- 
larly attractive or efficient. But the two ladies were 
determined to go mounted and were both accounted 
good equestriennes. The wagon started off in ad- 
vance, as there was some delay in getting on the 
steeds, and as the last of all was mine and the one 
preceding for Mrs. Brown, I assisted her to mount, 
and everything seemed to be tight and complete, but 
just as she started off, whipping up to overtake those 



6o Reminiscences of 

in advance, her clumsy charger stumbled badly, 
throwing her over its head to the ground, where she 
struck heavily. I being the nearest raised her up, 
and, finding her insensible, carried her without aid 
into the hotel, and then, aided by her husband, to her 
apartment. The country doctor was sent for, and we 
were much alarmed, and gave up the excursion. The 
next day Mrs. Brown became the mother of a daughter, 
the arrival being somewhat in advance of expectations, 
accelerated by the unfortimate accident. Years rolled 
by, a quarter of a century, and although I met Mr. 
Brown occasionally I never saw his wife or daughter, 
until I met him one summer at a Long Branch hotel, 
twenty-five years after the Upton incident, when I 
learned of the death of his wife, and that his daughter, 
then married, was at our hotel with her husband. 
That evening I was presented to her as an old friend of 
her father's, and was left in conversation with her. 
After a while I expressed my pleasure in seeing her, 
not only as the daughter of my old friend, but from 
the fact of once having carried her in my arms, with- 
out ever having seen her, or having her see me, I 
most naturally experienced more than an ordinary 
satisfaction. She gazed upon me with a look of sur- 
prise and requested a repetition of my remarks, and 
afterwards said she then had doubts of my sanity. 
I told her briefly the story of the accident and of my 
carriage of her mother to the hotel and of the unex- 
pected denouement. 



^N these reminiscences I shall ramble more or less 
• in the remembrances of the past as they arise in my 



A Sportsman 6i 

mind, which if I do not take up as they come, will 
not otherwise appear, and though they may not be 
of general interest to the reader, or directly concerned 
with sports, will give me some satisfaction to recount. 

I have noted the strong affection of some eminent 
men I have known for others, and often the opposites 
in dispositions — as of Booth for Setchell; of Forrest 
for Oakes; of Daniel Webster for Peter Harvey; and 
Henry Irving for Toole, the comedian. I was in- 
vited one evening in London to meet the two latter 
at a midnight supper at the Garrick Club, and I was 
struck with the particular affection which each bore 
toward the other. The affection of Webster for Peter 
Harvey is well known. 

I heard the last great speech of Webster, in Faneuil 
Hall in 1852, the year I sailed away from that port 
for California. Webster died that year. Faneuil 
Hall had been denied to him for some time owing 
to the sectional feeling which existed, arising from 
Webster's action in the Missouri Compromise bill, 
which Webster keenly felt. He had met with a 
carriage accident a short time before, from which he 
had not fully recovered. An intense interest existed 
in the city among the friends and admirers of Webster 
to hear this address, and the old hall was packed as a 
box of sardines. I accompanied my most dear and 
lamented friend Peter Butler, and Peter Harvey, each 
particular friends of the other, and the most dear 
friends of the immortal Daniel, to the small apartment 
where Webster sat alone in a large arm-chair waiting 
for the moment when he should be called to the plat- 
form. I had never seen him before, and I was awe- 
struck with his grand and magnificent proportions 



62 Reminiscences of 

and impressive features. His large dark eyes, well 
sunken over his prominent cheek-bones, imparted a 
singularly attractive effect. But his countenance 
bore a friendly greeting over its sombre sternness. I 
was shocked to hear Harvey familiarly say : "Well, 
Dan, how do you feel to-day?" 

From our seats on the platform, where many 
friends of Webster were seated, we heard his last im- 
pressive words to the citizens of Boston. The standing- 
room of the large hall was entirely absorbed, and the 
standing audience, compressed so closely, took on a 
swaying motion from side to side which threatened 
the stabihty of the building. This continuing when 
Webster arose, he raised his hand, and impressively 
uttered the following words, which are about all I 
remember : 

"Let every man stand still in his place." 

The effect was instant. I have always had a love 
for oratory and good acting, and oratory often car- 
ries one beyond reason. I can imagine the ancient 
orators were remarkable for their stirring power, 
but I can hardly believe they surpassed those of 
modem days, — Chatham, Fox, Patrick Henry, Rufus 
Choate, Henry Clay, and our own orators of note — 
in their specialties — of whom I have heard Wendell 
Phillips, John B. Gough, and Thomas H. Marshall, 
of Kentucky. I deemed them the most effective of 
any I have heard. 

I was present at the first inaugural address of 
Abraham Lincoln, at Washington, of simple and 
heart -feeling words, which proved of no avail, and 
in several political meetings in Illinois I heard the 
combating stump speeches of Lincoln and Stephen 



A Sportsman 63 

A. Douglas. I have also heard Samuel Houston, 
in Tremont Temple, Boston, and frequently Edward 
Everett; also Henry Ward Beecher, Anson G. Bur- 
lingame, Salmon P. Chase, Caleb Cushing, Franklin 
Pierce, N. P. Banks, Gladstone, Robert Ingersoll, 
and others of prominence. I account Wendell Phil- 
lips — although by no means his disciple — one of the 
cleverest, and in language the most graceful and 
classical of orators I ever heard, surpassing the studied 
elegance of Everett in his seeming spontaneity and 
fitness of words, and I am doubtful if Cicero surpassed 
him. 

I think for impassioned eloquence with lofty ex- 
pression and personal magnetic power Rufus Choate 
in his address on Daniel Webster surpassed any I 
ever heard. This was delivered in the Revere House, 
in 1853, upon the anniversary of Webster's death, 
at a banquet given by the immediate friends and 
admirers in memory of that event. Choate had 
been a lifelong friend of Webster, and no one could 
have been selected more fitting for the event. Choate, 
of tall, thin, and angular form, with a countenance ex- 
hibiting the emotions of thought and genius in its 
worn and wrinkled features seamed with singular 
interlineations, indicative of his intense nervous-san- 
guine temperament, surmoimted with a brow o'er 
which "the pale cast of thought" seemed enthroned, 
was confessedly the leader of the Massachusetts 
Bar, in effective force. In an intellectual sense I 
was an ardent admirer of the man, and I often stole 
away in busy hours to listen to and admire the il- 
luminations and magnetic power of his persuasive 
eloquence in noted cases. 



64 Reminiscences of 

One instance I recall in a criminal case where 
Choate was engaged for the defendant, which was 
of prolonged period, and excited an absorbing inter- 
est from the commiinity, when his summing up of 
the evidence consumed several hours; and when the 
condition of the jury was plainly evident to the 
assemblage, being clear that eleven of the jury were 
for acquittal, while the twelfth sat stolidly in the 
front centre of the box, assuming an indifference 
imfelt by any other in the court. The case was one 
where the defendant had slain the seducer of his 
honor, clearly and premeditately. In the sense of 
the law it was a clear case for conviction. But who 
can account for the conclusions of a jury, which may 
act from sympathy, with its impulses strained to a 
forgetfulness of the mandate, "Thou shalt not kill." 
The twelfth juror became aware as all present that 
he was the conspicuous object of attention, and con- 
scious that his attitude was apparent to his fellow- 
jurors, as well as to the orator of defence, and that 
the latter's efforts were particularly directed toward 
him, and prolonged for his conversion. He was a 
singular man, of sturdy make-up and decided cast, 
with frontal head retreating to rear prominence; 
one of that sort of men who occasionally get drawn 
on a jury where the other eleven are wanting in good 
sense and reason. He had long since ceased to allow 
his sight to be obscured by the presence of the orator 
who held entranced with magnetic power the rest of 
the jury, and, affecting a stupid languor, sat with 
downcast head and eyes. Choate sought but one 
glance to hold with his conquering power, but in vain. 
It was an exciting period, a waiting one, to exhibit 



A Sportsman 65 

the mastery of one mind over another, of an effort to 
estabHsh the Hne of transmission by the visual organ 
from brain to brain for the torrential outpouring, 
negatively diverted by the dam of obstinacy. The 
impassioned orator advanced and withdrew by turn 
over the open space between himself and the object of 
attack, vainly seeking an opening for his spellbinding 
power, until with a final advance accompanied with a 
flow of words in rapidity beyond the power of the sten- 
ographer's art, holding all present in breathless quiet, 
brought down his clenched hand with resounding 
force upon the flat bar by the downcast head which 
held the ransom of a human life. Thus startled, 
and much confused, the head quickly rose with an 
inquiring glance, which was fated to lose its domina- 
tion, and the battle was won, for Choate caught it 
before it could slink away again, and held it with an 
intensity from which there was no mortal escape; 
and into the now receptive brain of his victim with a 
communication now established he poured forth a 
flow of alternate commanding and persuasive logic, 
which even the befuddled intelligence of his now 
terrified quarry could not withstand, coupled with the 
apparent conspicuousness of his position and a clear 
condemnation of his previously held attitude. There 
was little doubt felt when the jury retired what its 
conclusion would be, and a imanimous acquittal was. 
soon declared. 

The assemblage of 1853 at the Webster banquet 
on the first anniversary of his death was of most 
devoted friends of the departed statesman, and repre- 
sented a distinguished element of advanced intelli- 
gence gleaned from the surrounding region. It was 



66 Reminiscences of 

a question if any one could arise to the expectations 
of the event in a sufficient tribute to the memory of 
the departed one whose majestic presence and grand 
oratorical powers had been unequalled in the records 
of history — of one whom nature's mould had never 
given another of grander personification of manhood. 
When the moment arrived for the rising of Rufus 
Choate, all movement and conversation ceased and 
the stillness of expectation prevailed. All knew the 
careworn countenance of the orator of the evening 
with its graven lines, the brow whereabout struggled 
the furtive locks now silvering from time, the chin of 
firmness and classic mould ; the mouth of expressiveness, 
from which issued the honeyed words of persuasive- 
ness or those of disdain, contempt, or denunciation; 
the form moderately tall and spare, of nervous mus- 
cular build without tendency to fulness, quick in 
movement or quiet as occasion required, natural and 
unaffected, yet trained by years of active practice. 
The commencement was quiet, moderate, and of clear 
enunciation, of gentle tones seeking way into the 
hearts of the lovers of Webster, and finding place 
there ; and thus on, with slowly increased recitations of 
moment, which foimd willing response. The orator 
knew full well the union he had found, without hand 
recognition. It was not required, for the words of 
the master mind in sorrow and regret and in sym- 
pathy and love and admiration were but the breathing 
form of united thought. And so on, with gradual 
increase of emotion so apt and natural that admira- 
tion of the orator was forgotten in the perfection of 
illustration. 

There are many forms of oratory: The smooth 



A Sportsman 67 

Addisonian flow of perfect English as rendered by 
Edward Everett, beyond criticism, possibly brilliant 
in a conservative degree, with well rounded sen- 
tences, accompanied by graceful gestures, but cold and 
emotionless. That of the often uncultivated and 
awkward delivery, but well founded on fact and rea- 
son. That of the extravagant type, which may 
interest and amuse. That of commonplace which 
in lack of evidence, manner, or fact is uninteresting. 
That of homely and kind delivery which touches the 
heart to its depths. That of Webster, the Great 
Expounder, in depth and comprehensiveness exhibit- 
ing the grandeur of the human mind to its extent, and 
whose very presence and simple words imparted an 
inexplicable interest. That of Choate, the creator of a 
school by itself, of magic power self -inherited ; of 
form, head, and countenance indicating the restless 
and impetuous soul within; of imaginative mind in 
sentiment and tenderness; of analytical faculty and 
consecutiveness of illustrations; of education in the 
classics most exact: a rare combination of will power 
and thoughtfulness, and possessing that magnetic 
ability — if such we will call that mysterious and un- 
known power which exists without tongue, picture, or 
tangible evidence — to hold, enlist, and affect the hearts 
and minds of others. It is the innate offspring from 
hidden source which is not of thought and education 
and exists more or less in all, often unconsciously, 
and without which one cannot attain great power. 
This, in my view, was possessed by Choate to an 
eminent degree. 

One can imagine the sublime influence of this 
sense from an orator possessing the general qualifi- 



68 Reminiscences of 

cations of Choate, and for an hour the assemblage 
was held by an eloquence surpassing any it has been 
my experience to have witnessed. Perhaps I dwell 
too long upon this digression, and sometimes I think 
my receptive condition — ^being at that time in my 
teens — exceeded that of my present, but my recol- 
lection is vivid, and I would not deny myself the 
memory, and I can see as plainly as of yesterday 
the living countenance and animated form of Choate. 
I think it quite probable that I was too receptive, 
for I am reminded of the intense interest I felt at 
that period in the dramatic recitations and acting 
of the famous French tragedienne, Sarah Felix Rachel, 
who visited the United States at that time, and the 
effect upon me exceeded any I have since experienced 
or approached by the representations I have witnessed 
of Ristori, Janauschek, Matilda Heron, Charlotte 
Cushman, and others of less note. Her fragile and 
delicate form, of pliant mould, and her pale coun- 
tenance, of not particular impressiveness when at rest, 
became illuminated in action with the most intense 
expressions which only high genius (or was it talent ?) 
could render. Her rest of classic cast, her movement 
of gentle or violent action ever graceful, her enuncia- 
tion of sweetness or severity, although in foreign 
tongue, ever clear and penetrating, habitated her 
presence in my estimation beyond the possibilities of 
expectation, and I clung to her representations of 
Medea, Phrede, and other leading parts with a fer- 
vency and absorbism never since equalled. Rachel 
died soon afterwards in Paris at the age of thirty- 
eight, consumed, it is claimed, by the intensity of her 
own nature. 



A Sportsman 69 

In later years I have experienced the intensity of 
admiration and regard for the acting of the elder 
Salvini, whom I account the peer in natural presenta- 
tion and reserved power of any other actor. In 
whatever play I have seen him, I have followed him 
with great interest, and I can hardly believe that 
Talma or Garrick could have been his equal. 



LET us return to the sporting line. In the early 
history of Maine, game of the character now 
existing there was plentiful, and wolves were abund- 
ant, although they are now quite unknown except 
occasionally in the extreme northeastern part, and 
have not been known about the Rangeley Lakes for 
fifty years, which is rather singular, considering that 
such expansive forests abound, where the conditions 
are comparatively similar to those before existing. 

Owing to the absence of protecting-game laws, and 
the ease with which moose and deer were killed in 
the deep snow in February and March, — ^becoming 
crusted over by slight day thawings and night freez- 
ings, — the slaughter was simple enough, and such 
killing was extensively pursued by the inhabitants, 
with a consequent diminution of both animals, and 
between the years 1850 and i860 moose and deer 
became pretty scarce about the frontier settlements 
of the State. 

This condition aroused public attention and game 
laws more stringent than before existing were enacted, 
and from i860 deer became more plentiful, although 
slaughtering in the crusted snow was still continued 
to a limited extent in the outlying districts and by 
the winter loggers, but the laws became more drastic 



70 Reminiscences of 

under the present commissioners who were appointed 
by the State, and who continue still in office. 

Let us consider the benefits of protecting-game 
laws in a region where they have been of notable 
and conspicuous effect — ^more so, perhaps, than else- 
where in the United States; in an extensive region 
where a fair trial has been made, and where an op- 
position has constantly appeared, though of late 
much diminished, since the advantages of protec- 
tion have become more apparent. A large increase 
of deer is now clearly shown in Maine, as well as 
moose, now appearing in districts from which they 
had become almost exterminated. 

Especially in the department of fisheries have the 
advantages of protection been shown by the pro- 
hibition of winter fishing, and the limitation of the 
open season. These fish laws particularly have been 
in force against much opposition, from the objective 
element of the State, and this objective disposition 
is ever present more or less in all restricted districts 
from the unthinking and often reckless element. 
Such opposition comes largely from those who in 
reality have but little at stake. 

The State of Maine can be cited conspicuously as 
one where efficient game protection has resulted in 
great gain, for the material benefit, not only for the 
State in its income derived from licenses, and money 
expended within its borders by visitors, but for the 
sportsmen who regularly frequent the lakes and 
rivers for fishing and the forests for hunting. It is 
estimated that from ten to fifteen millions of dollars 
per annum are expended directly and indirectly in 
the State by visitors who are attracted by the fishing 



A Sportsman 71 

and shooting advantages offered; and about twenty- 
five thousand dollars per annum are obtained from 
the sale of licenses, which funds are contributed to- 
ward the expenses of supervision, wardens, and the 
propagation of fish. 

In 1875 there were but four lakes or ponds which 
contained land-locked salmon, which have now been 
introduced into more than eight hundred, and hun- 
dreds appropriate for black bass have also been 
stocked. The salt-water smelt, which is suitable 
for many fresh waters — although seldom reaching 
the size attained in the sea, — is very generally dis- 
tributed throughout Maine waters, and entirely 
throughout the Rangeley waters, which cover about 
one hundred square miles ; it has furnished a new and 
very important source of trout and land-locked salmon 
food, and seems to be the chief food in the spring 
after the ice clearing. They are seen in large schools 
at the surface, of about two inches in length, and I 
have counted out from the stomachs of large trout 
and salmon as many as fifty or sixty from a single 
fish. 

Under the intelligent action of the game com- 
missioners, the breeding of trout and salmon has 
been most extensively prosecuted, and besides stock- 
ing home waters, young fry has been very extensively 
and freely distributed throughout the country, even 
to the Pacific Coast. In fact, the protection of game 
and sporting interests, prosecuted in the successful 
manner it has been, has largely increased the pros- 
perity of the State, and United States Senator Frye, 
himself an ardent sportsman, in the course of a recent 
address, said: 



72 Reminiscences of 

"In all the times of business depressions and dis- 
tress, financial panics and consequent unemployment 
of labor, so seriously affecting the country, the State 
of Maine has suffered much less than any other State 
in the American Union, mostly, if not entirely, due 
to the large amount of money left there by the fisher- 
men, the summer tourist, and the Fall hunter, the 
seeker after change, rest, and recreation." 

The quinnat or king salmon of the Pacific Coast 
has also been introduced into the waters of Maine 
with success, and can now be caught up to a weight 
of ten or twelve pounds. The salmon is a fresh- 
water fish, although its habitat is the sea, and 
after a sea life it cannot be transferred to fresh 
water without losing its prime qualities; if taken 
from the hatcheries as a fingerling or smolt and con- 
fined in fresh water it will become domesticated there 
and breed as other fish, but will never reach the size 
or the peculiar delicious flavor of the sea salmon. 
It will, however, retain the peculiarities of its congener 
in taking the fly and leaping from the water when 
hooked with all the game qualities of the trout, and in 
this respect is considered superior by many fishermen. 

In some waters the land-locked salmon will gain 
more weight than in others. In the Sebago Lake, 
for instance, and also in the Rangeleys, they will 
reach a maximvmi of fifteen or eighteen pounds. 

For a while moose practically disappeared about the 
Rangeley Lakes and one could travel long distances 
through the forests without seeing any or a deer- 
yard. By a provision of instinct, which is indicated 
so prominently with many animals, the moose and 
deer will, in a region of heavy snows, select before 



A Sportsman 73 

the maximum of depth is reached, and the season 
when surface crusting occurs, a location generally 
in black growth where browsing is favorable, and 
yard, so to say. This yard is not particularly limited 
in extent, sometimes extending over several miles, 
depending somewhat upon the number of animals 
yarding. Here they will remain unless disturbed 
until the full snow season is on. The traversing of 
the yard keeps the soft snow broken up, and when 
the day thawings come along the indentations of the 
feet not only pack the snow at the foot imprints, but 
extend several feet outside, which, freezing, makes a 
stronger surface crust than over adjoining untouched 
tracts. Crossing and recrossing, as moose and deer 
will do a great deal of in a yard, imparts a favorable 
footing, and one passing over will readily discover 
that he is in a yard, though he may see no other signs 
of animal existence, and sometimes it requires a good 
deal of travelling to find the occupants when a yard is 
extensive. 

The deer in a winter yard will evade the search by 
keeping out of sight, though their fresh tracks may 
be observed. If the snow outside is deep and heavily 
crusted they will show a great deal of reluctance 
in leaving a yard. Sometimes they will lie down 
in the yard together in the best place of shelter, and 
in such cases will allow the seeker to pass pretty near 
before taking flight, and will then perhaps round 
about in the yard, well aware of the difficulties which 
await them. Although accompanied by a dog, which 
will materially aid him, a hunter will often find great 
difficulty in ousting a herd of deer from a yard. 
I came into a deer yard in the winter of 1859 — the 



74 Reminiscences of 

first winter trip after the fishing excursion — in the 
early morning with my hunting guide, Nay Bennett, 
and his mongrel undersized dog — but clever with 
moose and deer, — and we spent the whole half -day 
searching for the deer which we had clear evidence 
were in the yard. It was some two miles long by 
a mile wide, and indicated the holding of a goodly 
number by the numerous fresh tracks, twig browsing, 
and other signs, and though we hunted industriously 
over it for four or five hours, no deer could we find, 
and as we had an objective point to reach that night 
several miles off, we concluded to lunch and push on. 
So, with a brisk fire, and some tea made with water 
from melting snow, and a rasher of broiled salt pork 
and bread, we relieved our somewhat fatigued legs 
by a rest. 

We had one gun, a half blanket, and some pounds 
of bread and salt pork, some tea and a small pot and 
cups, extra thick socks, and a few other incidentals, 
including a few hooks and lines for catching trout 
through the ice. We were in a wilderness of forest 
where we could go a hundred miles or more without 
seeing a settlement, and were bound for Parmachene 
Lake, the headwater of the Androscoggin River, some 
thirty miles distant. What more could we desire 
than the prospect before us? I was reluctant about 
giving up further search for the deer, and not joining 
Nay in his accustomed smoke after eating, I left him 
to pack up our extensive holdings, with the gun, and 
follow, and taking a compass line in the direction we 
were to go, started on accompanied by our canine, 
which bore the euphonous name of Zip. I was about 
passing out of the yard north, when up sprang a dozen 



A Sportsman 75 

deer from their beds in the snow and in mass broke 
from the yard and down the somewhat steep hill 
in the direction I was heading. They were soon 
out of sight, leaving a deep furrow which Nay after- 
wards said looked as if a loaded cart had gone down 
there. 

There was no time to lose as they should be hard 
pressed at the start before they could recover from 
the first fright, and settle down to a steady, moderate 
pace, or separate. So calling loudly to Nay, uncer- 
tain if he could hear me, I hastened on with Zip, 
who already was about out of sight ahead on the 
trail. He was a knowing dog, this mongrel Zip, 
who had served his apprenticeship for some years 
with Nay, his master being a noted hunter, and fonder 
of moose and deer hunting and life in the woods than 
work on the small farm he had at the Megalloway 
settlement. I was quite light and quick on the snow- 
shoe, and I soon overtook and passed Zip, whose oc- 
casional slumping in the' snow retarded his progress, 
but gave no cessation of his excited yelping. I soon 
left him far behind, but he had no discouragement 
in his bones, and afterwards came up in good season. 

Not more than half a mile more did I go, before 
I had the deer in sight ahead; they, being confused 
and floundering in the deep snow, were still together. 
Pitiful sight was it not? I think so, but did not 
then, as I was too eager for the killing and fresh meat. 
But as I came up to them they parted in different di- 
rections, as was their habit when close pressed. Hast- 
ily selecting the largest of the herd for my particular 
attention, and to hold as I could only until Nay came 
up, I pressed him to bay, for he could not make 



76 Reminiscences of 

progress equal to mine, so he beat down the snow 
about him and faced me, and I was holding him when 
Zip arrived full of fury and yelping. 

My quarry upon this broke off again, when Zip, 
with still more frightful yelps, fastened momentarily 
on the rear, letting go in season to avoid the front- 
foot strike so habitual with the deer at close 
quarters. A dog of this character is more efficient 
with moose and deer at bay, and in fact with bear 
or other large animals belonging to the dangerous 
class, than a large and courageous one depending 
upon his power untaught by experience, which often 
occasions his sudden exit from the scene, and con- 
sequent peril to his master. 

I noted lately an account of the escape of a hunter 
in the mountains from a wounded grizzly bear by the 
active distracting work of a fox-terrier which accom- 
panied him. 

All the rest of the deer had broken away out of 
sight, and I saw no difficulty in holding mine until 
Nay should come up with the gun. But he was 
slow in arriving, and my buck kept moving along, 
and I kept after him, impeding him with Zip as much 
as possible, which worked him up into a great fury in 
which he would charge at his tormentor with a hissing 
sound, striking at him with his feet, which Zip managed 
to keep well clear of, but came very near being trod- 
den under several times owing to the broken snow, 
which troubled him as much as the buck. 

I worked up pretty closely with my cheering 
on, but thought prudent to have my long-bladed 
knife in hand in case I should receive a charge, and 
sure enough it came rather unexpectedly, and so 



A Sportsman 'j^ 

suddenly that in my haste to avoid it, I locked my 
snowshoes and came down in a heap with the buck 
on top of me, but whose sharp feet I managed to 
avoid as he came down. Zip managed to get in on 
the rear, but I lost sight of him in the flurry, and 
had no way to avoid an up-and-down churning, ex- 
cepting to throw my arms up over the neck of the 
deer, still retaining my knife in hand. In this situ- 
ation I was lifted up and down very quickly several 
times with no ability to use my knife, and I saw that 
something would have to result very shortly, or I 
should be hors de combat, as my weight and strength 
seemed of slight avail in contrast with the apparently 
increasing strength of my adversary, who was hissing 
with fright and rage and whom I would have been glad 
to cry quits with, if I could only have been relieved 
from him. But the combat ended in a moment. I 
managed with my left arm hooked over the neck as 
I came down to get a handful of hair and skin, to hold 
at, and support my weight, and as quickly liberated 
my right arm and hand, and thrust my knife to the 
hilt in the chest of the deer at the neck. It was a 
lucky thrust, splitting the windpipe and heart, and 
we came down together, but I had to turn in the 
snow to avoid the ruddy flow from the nostrils of my 
dying victim. I had now to find if I had received 
any injury, and found I had but a few scratches to 
show, though my snowshoes had more serious damages, 
requiring more or less patching up during the balance 
of the trip. 

When Nay came up we dressed and hung up the 
buck after taking a few choice strips for present 
use, and the deer remained for ten days or so frozen. 



78 Reminiscences of 

Being but a few miles from a logging camp,we had the 
buck afterwards dragged out by the camp tote-sled, 
and on to the Megalloway settlement to take back 
with us, and its weight dressed up was one hundred 
and eighty-seven pounds. 

Upon another occasion I killed with the same 
knife a still larger buck which came suddenly upon 
me in the snow when wounded. The conflict was 
brief, although several thrusts were required, and 
I escaped with but few bruises. 

We pushed on for Parmachene Lake at the head- 
waters of the Androscoggin area of drainage, be- 
ing situated near the Canada line twenty-five miles 
from the Megalloway River settlement, passing nearly 
two weeks on this my first snowshoe excursion to 
that region, which I was so much delighted with 
that I made four more excursions to the same region 
in the following winters with the same guide, meeting 
with many adventures and minor experiences too 
numerous to give much mention of at this time. 
These were made in the months of February and 
March, when the snow was from four to seven feet 
deep on the level, and when the conditions were favor- 
able for securing large game. 

The method of camping out was very simple, and 
consisted of breaking up primarily the snow crust 
over a space of ten feet by seven, in a sheltered place 
where firewood was favorable, and then shovelling out 
the loose snow with snowshoes to within a foot or two 
of the bottom. Then a good mattress of hemlock 
boughs is laid upon the soft bottom snow, and a supply 
of dry pine and green birch or maple wood secured 



A Sportsman 79 

at the side of the pit, and a fire made at the end 
braced up against a good-sized log of green wood. 

Then comes a change of footwear, and the three 
pairs of woollen socks worn in snowshoeing, if wet, are 
hung up to dry, where they will without scorching, 
and then comes the delicious supper of broiled bird or 
venison or fish, with which the larder may be supplied. 
Melted snow supplies the water for tea, without lacteal 
or saccharine addition, and ye gods ! what feasts can be 
taken in a comfortable snow pit by one who loves that 
sort of thing, with healthful rest, so gratifying to the 
fatigued hunter after a day's tramp. Then perhaps a 
fragrant pipe, sweeter than can be had amid the haunts 
of men, away and alone in the beautiful and enchant- 
ing forest. Think of it : No bells, or buzzing street cars ; 
no evening papers, or postman; no notices of servants' 
quittance, or leaking pipes, discussion of gas bills or 
electric lights; no engagements for next evening — all 
away and forgotten, as one reclines upon the fragrant 
boughs, and watches the ascending smoke and sparks 
rising through the overhanging tree limbs toward the 
twinkling stars. Perhaps it may be stormy; then a 
shelter overhead of a few sticks and boughs, and the 
home grows more fascinating in change than when 
the sky is clear, so soul filling and rapturous that, in 
excess of joy, I have been inclined to leave it and roll 
in the snow and cry out in very fulness of heart, and 
as I look now, nearly half a century backward, my 
soul swells again to fulness, and the recollection 
drives away the forcing cares which unbidden would 
prevail. Happy days were those, perhaps the hap- 
piest of any. 

How I would love, even now, to be thrown out 



8o Reminiscences of 

into the depths of the forest again, and revel in the 
allurements belonging thereto. Would I enjoy it as 
much as before? Yes, I am sure I would, but the tur- 
moils of later responsibilities are upon me, and it is 
more difficult to pull away. But how fragrant the 
memory! How it softens the asperities of life. 



WITH advancing years, one becomes more averse 
to the rough features of sporting life enjoyed 
in early days, and more reluctant to face the nipping 
cold, and rest upon unyielding beds, and so in late 
years I have reared comfortable abodes in the wilder- 
ness of the Rangeleys in Maine, where I could com- 
bine some semblance of personal comforts in the midst 
of the primitive forest. There I have made annual 
and sometimes prolonged visits for nearly half a cen- 
tury, where I have been able to observe the many 
pectiliar features of the Fontinalis family, and to 
gratify my taste for solitary rambles in the unbroken 
forest, especially in the inclement seasons of winter 
when the charms dispute in attractiveness with all 
others. 

When stalking deer in the open months of No- 
vember and December — at which time the snow is 
likely to be moderately plentiful in Maine, through 
which, soft and yielding, even to a depth of two 
feet, the deer have no sort of difficulty in travelling 
rapidly, and at a speed beyond the possibilities of 
a stalker upon snowshoes — the stalker must depend 
wholly upon stealing upon an animal which possesses 
the sense of scent and hearing far keener than human 
possession,! although it may be doubted if it has a 



A Sportsman 8i 

superior perceptiveness in sight. All hunters have 
seen that wild animals will observe a moving body 
with interest if not suspicion, but if one stands per- 
fectly still, at first, not being detected, wild animals will 
often approach very near, as I have repeatedly had 
deer, bears, and foxes do. Deer, seeming to be aware 
of this feature, will frequently stand motionless, sup- 
posing themselves to be unobserved, and will allow 
an intruder to pass very closely. Foxes, despite their 
cunning and suspiciousness, appear to be more dim- 
sighted than other animals, and will come upon you 
very frequently in the fields about the settlements, 
when hunting field-mice, in which pursuit they seem to 
be wholly absorbed, and by standing still and imitating 
the faint squeak of the mouse, one may tempt them 
to approach within a few feet. 

I wish I could do justice to the subject of deer 
stalking, but it has so many aspects, varying so in 
effect upon the appreciation and receptiveness of the 
stalker, that it is not likely that one's own views 
may be fully shared by another. Still, I can believe 
that with many, the enjoyment does not wholly con- 
sist in the killing of deer, although it is the primary 
object, but, as in fishing for trout, the auxiliaries are 
the attractive features. 

There is a wholesomeness and vitality about the 
Maine forests in winter which is not found elsewhere. 
The cold, the ice, the snow, the changing rough 
weather, invite to the robust recreations of skating, 
ice-boating, tobogganing, and snowshoeing. They 
heighten the comforts of indoors. Restful sleep, 
appetite and digestion, and blazing birchwood fires, 
solve the question, "Is life worth living?" 



82 Reminiscences of 

Whatever season it may be, the Maine forests are 
lovely, and it is difficult to say when they are the 
most so. One might say in the early spring, when 
the buds of the deciduous trees are expanding and 
the ferns and brakes unfolding, or when full-fledged, 
or in the decadence, when the autumnal tints appear ; or 
in the winter, when garnished with wreaths of snow. 

The period of falling leaves is exceptionally charm- 
ing. As the leaves fall they exude the various odors 
of their belonging, so that one with closed eyes may 
tell the character of the prevailing trees. I have 
often thought of the pleasure I should take if I were 
blind in walking among the localities I am familiar 
with, when the pleasant recognition of well-known 
trees would guide my steps. 

In my taste the late fall and first half of the winter 
dispute with any other season, and I am not sure if 
I do not prefer the rough and changing time of winter 
at the lakes, with its accompaniments, to any other. 
At least the summer is too short and the scene must 
lap over. Tell me not of orange groves and flowers, 
and vines with clinging clusters, but of the winter 
forest in its kaleidoscopic beauty, and of the lakes in 
their broad mantles of ice and snow. The singing of 
the wind around the tree-tops and the whirling flakes 
have more charm for my accustomed sight and ear 
than the cooing of the dove in midsummer bower. 

There are scarcely any Maine forests, however 
tangled they may appear, which do not possess 
pleasant and accessible reaches of park-like valleys 
and hillsides, or rounded ridges of hardwood growth 
or pine, allowing comfortable travelling for the stalker. 
Possessed with the unerring compass and a tolerable 



A Sportsman 83 

familiarity with the region marks, he advances upon 
the proposed Hne, which may include some miles of 
circuit. There must be an object in all efforts to give 
zest, whether we walk, drive, sail, bike, or shoot; 
somewhere to go, something to realize. So with the 
deer stalker, his primary object is to get deer, and it 
matters little in one sense if he succeeds or not, and 
the latter is generally the case. But if he is of an ap- 
preciative cast, the surroundings are inhabited with 
charming life and enjoyment. 

Most stalkers will concede that at no time of the 
year are their rambles more agreeable than when the 
ground is half carpeted with the yellow, brown, and 
crimson leaves which announce the opening of the 
hunting season. 

The deer are now found more in the open growth, 
and with the cooler weather range about extensively. 
It is the approach of the mating season, and frequent 
are the saplings with scarred bark, caused by the 
whetting of antlers preparatory to rival encounters. 
Here and there are bare spots and scattered dead- 
wood which have been pawed in the impatient spirit 
of combat. 

The deer — timid as supposed — is possessed of an 
indomitable and persistent courage in conflict with 
its own kind, and will fight to the extremity of weak- 
ness and even death before yielding. I have witnessed 
a good many scenes of this character, where the 
trampled ground and broken shrubs indicated des- 
perate encounters. 

At one place, a few miles from the lake, I witnessed 
in December a scene which indicated a meeting of 
particular ferocity. I had tracked a large buck 



84 Reminiscences of 

through eight inches of snow. The buck had evi- 
dently found several others in conflict, and being a 
free lance, and at a free fight, had immediately engaged. 
The snow was completely crushed and tumbled over 
an area somewhat larger than an ordinary circus ring, 
and it was decidedly apparent that a stag circus of 
unusual magnitude had occurred without the super- 
vision of a ringmaster, or the encouraging plaudits 
of spectators. I counted five departing trails, and the 
performance had probably terminated several hours in 
advance of my arrival. Probably one by one the 
vanquished had departed, until the acknowledged 
champion held the field. Such seems to have been 
the case, as the trails were diverging. One champion 
exhibited the hasty and ludicrous method of his exit 
by leaping over a broken tree six feet in height, when 
a projecting fracture had creased his body the whole 
length in passing, leaving a bountiful handful of hair 
and fragmentary cuticle in evidence. This might be 
accounted a feeling instance of the P. P. C. order of 
etiquette with the Cervus family. The trampled area 
was flecked with enough hirsute scrapings to fill a 
good-sized pillow, with occasional spatterings of scarlet 
coloring. 

It is seldom that a buck, however large and sav- 
age, will charge a stalker when wounded, but occa- 
sionally — though very rarely — ^he will, and a friend 
of mine will carry the scar for life of a face disfigure- 
ment from a wounded buck he shot at, which came 
upon him with such sudden force that he had no time 
for defence, and was struck in the face by an antler 
which broke his jaw-bone, and stove out several of his 
teeth. The buck then passed on out of sight. 



A Sportsman 85 

I recall another instance of an experienced deer 
hunter of powerful build, a friend of mine, who had 
a wounded buck come upon him so suddenly that he 
could only seize him by the horns as they tumbled 
over together, and which he held down for some time, 
but found he could not get away from, for every time 
he loosened up, the buck would renew his attack, 
declining any retreat. For more than half an hour he 
carried on the struggle, and though powerful enough 
to hold the deer down, he felt his strength declining, 
while that of the buck seemed as much as ever. He 
had an ordinary pocket-knife which he finally managed 
to get out and open, and stabbed the buck with the 
short blade many times without reaching a vital spot, 
and began to despair that he would ever get out of the 
scrape, as he was becoming exhausted. He nerved 
up, however, and centred the work of his knife at the 
throat and finally severed the jugular vein, and the 
buck, fighting to the last, gradually weakened by the 
loss of life-blood, yielded to the inevitable. Bruised 
and bleeding, the victor related to me, he was so faint 
that he laid himself out beside the vanquished for 
more than an hour before he could wend his homeward 
way. 

With the fall of snow the deer stalker finds new 
delight. With the luxury of well-stockinged and moc- 
casined feet, he goes forth to new realms of enchant- 
ment. The atmosphere is of buoyant and stimulating 
energy. The arboreal and shrub life is invested with 
crystallizations of dazzling purity, each one being a 
marvel beyond the art of man. The consciousness of 
being alone in a wide expanse of forest, beyond 



86 Reminiscences of 

habitations and the sound of human voice, is in itself 
for the nonce a sensation of rehef . 

The reaches of pine groves and of beech and of 
maple, all interspersed with birch — the loveliest tree of 
northern climes — are inspiring. They say: 

' ' Come and explore me. We have waited long and 
you came not. Now you shall bear witness to our 
grandeur and solitude, and have contemplation. See 
in us the prototypes of your own race, how we rise and 
fall. We flourish in prosperity and topple in misfor- 
tune. We stand apart, some rugged and gnarled as 
some of your own kind, defying the wintry blast, but 
others are nurtured in protection. Some are comely 
and others scarred. See in us your own history, to 
start forth and bear and die. Your sun of light is ours, 
and the sky to all, and the air you breathe is our life. 
Yonder broad stump is the monument of a patriarch 
of old. There were giants in those days, but none 
now, for they have been taken to rib your homes and 
deck your ocean messengers." 

At the hour of noon the stalker rests before a dead 
and broken pine, which with match and birch peelings 
is soon ablaze. His simple luncheon becomes a precious 
blessing, and may be followed by the incense of fra- 
grant pipe. What more shall be required to fill the 
day's cup of happiness than the comfort of the home 
fire at night and the panacea of Nature's most enjoy- 
able fatigue ? 

After my first winter fishing trip in 1858 to the 
Rangeleys I made perhaps a dozen more in succeeding 
years, generally in the months of December and Janu- 
ary, finding much satisfaction in the change from the 
confinement of town life, with the attractiveness of 



A Sportsman 87 

taking such fine, large trout, always in good form, and 
surpassing all others of which I have known. 

Despite the sometimes unfavorable weather, when 
storms and cold predominated, the pleasures and 
realizations of buoyant cheerfulness, appetite, and 
sleep well repaid all privations and inconveniences. 
Sometimes it was difficult to get there, owing to heavy 
snowfalls and unbroken roads, requiring two or three 
days from the settlement to get through and estab- 
lished. But this was the commencement of fun, of 
which there was no cessation. There were no settle- 
ments then within miles of the lakes we visited, and we 
had to haul in our supplies on bob-sleds. Sometimes the 
ice would be treacherous, and we would break through 
with our horses, but no particular danger attended this, 
though we once lost a pair of horses, which was occa- 
sioned by the carelessness of the driver, who ventured 
beyond the route which had been lined and tested by 
axe strokes. This was in early December when the 
ice was thin at places, and in this place of breaking 
through the ice all about was too thin to allow any 
leverage to pry up the horses so that they could be 
pulled out, and we had to abandon them as the weather 
was very cold, below zero, and darkness coming on. 

We often got horses in over spring holes where the 
water below had cut the ice thin, and at cracks and 
blow-out holes. But it was a simple method the 
natives had, though not gentle. Always having ropes 
on the sled, a rope with a noose was thrown over a 
horse's head after it was detached from the sled, 
•the latter being pulled back, seldom going in with 
the team. The horse, being well choked, swells 
up in the body, which prevents sinking. A stout pole, 



88 Reminiscences of 

generally carried on the sled, is inserted under the body 
of the horse, which is pried up until a portion of the 
fore part lifts on the ice, and then all hands, pulling on 
the rope, slide out the horse on the stronger ice. If 
with a pair of horses, the method is repeated with the 
second, it being choked up to flotation while the first 
horse is being pulled out. Unless the weather is par- 
ticularly cold, and if the horse is not in the water too 
long, it can generally get up on its feet. If not, it is 
helped up, and moved about until it regains some 
activity. Then harnessing up takes place, and we 
move on. 

We never lost any horses, excepting in the instance 
mentioned. Although the treatment given seems 
rough, I have not known any injury from it, or even 
a complaint from the patients, who, doubtless, were 
grateful enough for escape from drowning by being 
thus promptly treated. It is needless to say that the 
equines employed on the lake roads are not up to the 
standard valuation of the pedigreed stock we often 
hear of, as frequenters of the lakes will readily admit. 

To break in when skating or fishing is a small mat- 
ter, and one crawls out without difficulty, and if the 
weather is moderate may go on, draining and warm- 
ing up with active movement, but if the weather is 
about zero, one should seek shelter. The danger from 
breaking in when the ice first makes, and is thin, arises 
from the inability to find sustaining ice about the break. 
Then if one is without a long pole to lay on the ice to 
spread his weight over some space, he is in danger with- 
out extraneous aid, unless he is so near the shore that 
he can break ice to it. 

The uniformity of thin ice is a feature of great 



A Sportsman 89 

danger, and to be most cautiously approached, and 
when travelled over should be on a line close to the 
shore. I have often gone up the lake shores for a 
matter of ten or twelve miles, impatient of reach- 
ing camp, when finding the ice thinner than expected, 
and unsafe for teams or even men on foot, had to 
keep along the shore ice on snowshoes, drawing sleds 
with long ropes behind. New ice is particularly 
tenacious, and although it will crack and seam, will, 
when no more than an inch and a half thick, readily 
hold up a man of ordinary weight, and a man on snow- 
shoes can safely creep along on an inch of new ice. 

The swelling and contraction of ice in changing 
weather gives a good many curious features. One 
day when several of us were proceeding along on 
the ice near the lake shore for camp — there being no 
roads through the woods, and the shores being so 
beset with cedars, stumps, and drift that we could 
hardly get along there with our sleds — ^we were startled 
by a crack which sounded louder than a rifle-shot 
near us, and looking back, we saw just behind an open 
space in the ice, eight or ten feet wide, where we 
had just passed, extending from the shore across the 
lake to the other side, a mile and a half distant. Later 
on we heard another report ahead, and when we 
proceeded two or three miles farther, we found a 
second opening across the lake, which, of course, we 
had to go around. The day had come out warm and 
sunny and caused the contraction. 

In cold weather the ice expands, and on a very cold 
night when it is thick on the lake, you are regaled in the 
still hours by the constant rumbling and cracking and 
at times with sounds approaching the explosion of 



90 Reminiscences of 

cannon in the distance, and large ridges of ice will be 
thrown up under pressure across the whole lake, across 
which you will have to cut away a passage to get a 
team through, and large masses of ice will be thrown 
on the surrounding level as if out-thrown by powder 
below. 

The pressure of expanding ice is immense, equal to 
several thousand pounds to the square inch, and if you 
fill with water an iron ball with a shell two inches 
thick and plug it up and expose it to extreme cold, it 
will easily crack open. Therefore the pressure of thick 
ice in a lake will at times expand with such force as to 
throw out the shore ice on land in the twinkling of the 
eye, making a wall difficult to get over. I once saw 
while on the lake a shore ice wall commence a mile 
above me, where it got a start, and go two miles below 
in a few seconds, with a roar beyond that of half a 
dozen railroad trains. 

When the lake was artificially raised some years 
ago, for impounding more water for the Androscoggin 
River and the mills below at Lewiston, an island not 
very far from my camp, of an area of a few acres, was 
flooded and frozen over in the following winter. This 
island had quite a growth of pine and cedars on it. 
One of my men was near when a strong movement of 
the ice occurred, and saw the crushing and toppling of 
the timbers as they were carried along by the moving 
ice all out of place, as shown the following spring. 



THERE are great extremes of cold at the lakes from 
their altitude of 1500 feet above the sea, and the 
winter snows fall more heavily there than perhaps at 
any other locality in the country. The ice commences 



A Sportsman 91 

making in November, and by December loth is gener- 
ally strong enough to bear teams over it, and accu- 
mulates in thickness until February, and does not go 
out for spring fishing on an average before May loth. 

It is interesting to observe the freezing of the great 
lake, commencing in November. The deciduous trees 
have cast their last leaves, which to the end have 
semblance of October's gaudy tints, and evergreens 
have grown darker, and the shades of the valley ranges 
have a cold and steely look, and the mountains are 
deeper in blue. 

The late autumnal days have surely come, and little 
flurries of snow and with them chickadees are in evi- 
dence. The ground freezes at night, and heavy frosts 
glitter in the morning sun. The last few flowers, and 
even the everlasting flower, which survived October's 
cold, fall supinely in dark coloring. The blue heron 
and kingfisher — deadly destroyers of small fry — ^have 
winged away, and the great American diver, or the 
loon, which breeds at the lake, has taken flight. The 
ducks and geese fly over hurriedly with southern trend. 
The robins, darling birds, are summer joys, who have 
bred in the bordering trees and proudly brought out 
their young broods upon the lawn, and taught them 
how to catch the angleworm, seeking the cool and moist- 
ure of the early morning. They, too, have thinned out, 
though some stay all winter. The deer have left the 
uplands for the cedar swamps. The frogs have ceased 
their croaking and night calls, and are floating lan- 
guidly about on the lake's surface, preparatory to their 
dive for dormant winter quarters in the bottom mud. 
The trout, big fellows with mates, five and six pounders, 
are crowding on the spawning beds in their very height 



92 Reminiscences of 

of coloring, in their best suits, with mottled backs and 
carmine spangles, tender in their love, and fierce in 
defending. How beautiful their blending of yellow, 
scarlet, and orange. How tame and seeming fond of 
attention. How many hours and days and weeks I 
have watched them, and for almost half a hundred 
years have I been among them, and some of them seem 
like old friends, and I meet them after a year's ab- 
sence, for I have known some of them for years, large 
fellows, and recognize them readily in the same place 
year after year ; and one I had so tame — partially con- 
fined with others — that feeding from my hands was 
frequent, and I have taken this one out of the water 
momentarily with my hands, more than once. But I 
must not go on with trout, or I will never end. 

I will give you later on, perhaps, more of trout than 
you will care to read, and I leave the subject reluc- 
tantly to go on with the ice. The ice first commences 
to freeze in the nooks and little bays in its delicate in- 
terlacing threads of crystallizations, where perhaps it 
holds, protected from the waves, and gradually reaches 
out into the open, where it is to be broken up many 
times. The lake, though cold enough to freeze, does 
not, owing to the water motion. It grows steadily 
colder, and the water, dashing up on the fringing 
shore, varnishes the rocks and shrubbery with its 
crystallizations. 

In a still night the ice wreathes over a large space, 
to be again disrupted, and again and again, while in 
the protected coves, it solidifies more and more, giving 
some skating. Then, after a cold, still night, the 
morning exhibits a frozen surface, but this is not a 
final closing, for a good blow breaks it all up again, by 



A Sportsman 93 

starting an opening, from which it rips up the whole 
length of the lake with surprising rapidity. But old 
Winter is stubborn and keeps on with his inevitable 
grasp, and stilling the wind upon a colder night, skims 
over the lake with half an inch or more of crystalliza- 
tion, and keeping still the wind the following day, 
adds half an inch or more. Not even then is the 
victory gained, for Boreas, now rampant, sends down 
a blast from the north, breaking up the ice for a mile 
or more, and leaping over for another mile breaks in 
below and tears open a mile or two, and so on for ten 
miles, skipping alternate miles perhaps. 

Then cold weather, continuing, thickens up the 
frozen spaces, strong enough to bear teams, while the 
open places are still kept unfrozen by the envious gales, 
until caught by a still night, when the open spaces are 
cased over and one continuous mantle of ice reaches from 
one lake end to the other. Then the lake is closed un- 
til the first part of May following, and upon the ice falls 
the winter accumulations of snow, and as this weight 
depresses the ice surface, the water arises over the 
latter, permeating the snow and creating a top of snow 
ice which may be several feet in thickness. 

Despite this accumulation, more or less soft places 
occur over springs in places where the water is not very 
deep, which cut away the ice, requiring caution in pass- 
ing over, though the danger from going in is not great, 
as the surrounding ice is strong enough to bear one's 
weight in getting out. Horses are worked out in the 
manner I have before described, and many times I have 
gone in and aided in extracting horses without loss. 

It was at one of the periods I have referred to when 
the lake was ribbed with alternate strips of ice from a 



94 Reminiscences of 

mile to a mile and a half in width, with equal open 
places, in the month of November, over a distance of 
eleven miles from the foot of the lake where the logging 
road ended to my camp, that I made a notable excur- 
sion for deer stalking with Governor William E. Rus- 
sell and a party of friends to the lake. The election in 
Massachusetts had just occurred, being the last election 
of Governor Russell in the State, and at our time of 
leaving Boston it had not been clearly shown from the 
returns whether Russell had been elected or not, to 
which he was somewhat indifferent, for he was fatigued 
and tired from many election speeches in the Common- 
wealth, having made from ten to twenty addresses 
each day for two or three weeks. But the subject was 
hardly one for discussion during our excursion, and our 
start-off was a rather sudden one. We had talked 
about going, but I had little idea of our taking the trip, 
and was in New York for a few days, preparatory to 
my departure for California for the winter, when I 
received a long telegram from the Governor reciting 
his fatigue from the election work, asking if I would 
take him to camp for a rest with three or four mutual 
friends, and if I could not go immediately. 

It required but a few moments' deliberation for me 
to make up my mind affirmatively, though I had re- 
turned from the lake but a few days before, where I 
had been for several months, closing my camp for the 
season, leaving in charge my usual keeper for the 
winter, in care of my dogs, and to cut wood and ice for 
the following year, not expecting to return until the 
following May for the spring fishing. The ice had 
commenced to form in places, when I passed down 
the lake, and I had to break my way through it some 



A Sportsman 95 

distance to reach the shore at the logging road of exit. 
But I answered Yes, and would join the Governor for 
departure from Boston in two days after. 

I put the telegraph in requisition, sending a mes- 
sage to the nearest town from camp, twenty-odd miles 
away, to send a special messenger to my camp keeper 
to have four or five boats at the end of the lake on the 
fourth day from date, with skates, wraps, etc. Another 
to my cook in Boston, a German woman ready for any 
emergency, whom I had employed for several years, 
and carried back and forth from camp to California, 
and who well knew my ways; one of stout heart and 
accustomed to adventure and rapid execution, to whom 

I had given a week's rest before her leaving for Cali- 
fornia. I telegraphed her to start the following day 
for the town nearest the lake, where she would be 
joined by my two guides who had been with me for a 
dozen years, and to get to camp as best they could, 
and have dinner ready at half-past six on the fourth 
day for half a dozen. The distance then was forty- 
four miles from the railroad, two thirds by road and 
one third by water. I then telegraphed for sundry 
stores wanting, to be sent to the lake. 

All went well. We left Boston on the set day, 
going to Portland, where we remained over night, 
taking an early train the following morning, and, after 
going seventy-five miles, arrived at the railroad end at 

II o'clock. We had then forty -four miles to make be- 
fore dark, and the days were short. 

As we left the cars, a large stage sleigh with four 
spirited horses, previously ordered, was waiting. The 
sleighing was superb over a well-broken road, and we 
made the run of twenty-two miles to Andover in two 
hours and a half, changing horses midway. At the last 



96 Reminiscences of 

town we had lunch prepared for us, and with three two- 
horse pungs took the last road through the woods to the 
lake, twelve miles, which we did in record time. From 
the last town we had at our backs a powerful southerly- 
gale, and when we arrived at the lake it was blowing 
great guns. Here were our two guides and camp 
keeper and two boats, with the lake end frozen over 
solid as far as we could well see — not far, owing to the 
curvation of the land, — and we were told that the ice 
stopped a mile and ''a half distant, and then came open 
water for a mile, and then ice, and so on alternately to 
camp, ten miles distant. It was great fun, and a re- 
markable trip we made with the gale driving us on; 
we could hardly stand against the wind. 

The Governor and I put on skates and went off 
flying, for there was no snow to obstruct. Our guides 
had thoughtfully brought down four sleds to put the 
boats on to haul them on the ice, and as they saw the 
gale was strong enough to carry the boats along on 
the sleds, had blocked up the boats on them and pro- 
vided themselves with short, stout poles, with heavy, 
sticking-out nails in the ends to steer by. Very in- 
genious are these Maine guides. After loading up, they 
let go with the wind, somewhat irregularly at first, but 
in fine form after a while, and the boats sledded over 
the ice about as fast as the Governor and I could go on 
skates. The great bother was to stop before the open 
water, but it was managed. Then we all loaded into 
the boats and pulled across the open, to take the ice 
again, and so on, shifting half a dozen times, and arriv- 
ing at camp somewhat in the dark. The camp was lit 
up as a beacon of glorious expectation, and glad we were 



A Sportsman 97 

to arrive in such good season, where Providence seemed 
to have been so entirely with us. 

With blazing birch wood fires, and dinner soon fol- 
lowing, we were jubilant with hopes of the morrow and 
following days. 

The lake was open north ahead of us, and at a good 
hour in the morning we were pulling our boats over it 
four miles to the head, where we landed, and followed 
a trail for a mile to a pond of a mile and a half in length, 
an adjunctive log camp I had there in the woods by 
the shore. Here we remained over night, still farther 
advanced in the wilderness of trees, our aim for the 
moment being to get away as far as possible from the 
busy haunts of men. After lunch we sallied out in 
various directions, trusting to fall in with some strag- 
gling members of the Cervus family, and did, but failed 
to score, and found a comfortable night's rest in our 
sheltered home. 

The gale had subsided, and the night was tolerably 
cold, at zero, still, and the morning clear. We were off 
after a light breakfast before the sun smiled upon us, 
and before ten o'clock had a fat doe to our credit. 
After lunch we returned to the lake for home camp. 

We speedily saw, as we expected, that passage over 
the lake was impossible for walking or boating, as it was 
entirely frozen over, and of too delicate cast for bear- 
ing, and too solid for breaking passage for our boats. 
So we hauled the boats higher on the shore, with bot- 
toms up and oars beneath, and deserted them with 
affectionate regards. The fun was deepening with rip- 
ples of crimson and gold, and although our tramp 
through the pathless woods was up and down hill, and 
across some tangled swamps and windfalls, and to the 



98 Reminiscences of 

extent of five miles or more in our detours, it was full 
of interest and gayety, with occasional rests at fallen 
logs for chat and solace of pipe. 

What fun the early explorers had despite their 
privations and toils, in rest and liberty — Clark and 
Lewis, in 1804, the first to cross from the Atlantic to 
the Pacific; Captain Bonneville, in 1835; Parkman 
and Pike, and the romantic adventurers' account of 
the Astoria expedition. Nothing for man is more 
refreshing and strengthening than to get away from 
the exciting and strenuous life of business and profes- 
sional work, than change to the restoring virtues of 
rest and contemplation to be found among the waters 
and forests which remain in a primitive condition. 

Governor Russell told me that never in his life had 
he felt more fatigued and worn than when he com- 
menced this excursion, and never more refreshed and 
buoyant for labor than upon his return. 

I put up a joke on the Governor on this trip which 
was rather amusing. When we arrived on board the 
cars, in leaving Boston, he was the recipient of many 
congratulations from accompanying passengers upon 
the supposed results of the election, and when we ar- 
rived at Portland he was greeted by a committee of 
welcome, which he vainly sought to avoid, and at 
several towns en route we found delegations of welcome 
in waiting, and it was thought necessary at our last 
town — ^where we took pungs for the last run through 
the woods to the lake — for a delegation of rustic resi- 
dents, who had become advised of the visit, to appear 
and give a final send-off. The Governor, as we sped 
away from the settlement, said: 

"Thank heavens, this welcome business is now over, 



A Sportsman 99 

and we will settle down to ourselves and our mutton." 
But not so, as appeared. 

After a few days at camp, I made a trip with the 
Governor and one of the guides across the woods to 
another lake, where deer were promising in number, 
and we proceeded up a trail from the lake for a mile or 
so to an old deserted logging camp that I knew of. I 
had prepared in advance an old cot sheet with the 
words, "Welcome, Governor Russell," prominently dis- 
played upon it with a marking brush, and this I had 
the guide pack away in his knapsack, instructing him 
how to act with it. Before we reached the camp over 
the virgin untrodden snow, at a babbling brook which 
crossed the road I signalled the guide to take a turn 
off to the right and see if he found any fresh tracks, 
while the Governor and I would rest and have a pipe 
at the brook. The guide started off and proceeded 
around to the rear of the old camp, which he entered 
through the old window-place, and tacked over the front 
door, without disturbing the snow in front, the sheet of 
welcome, and returning the same way as in entering, 
joined us at our resting-place, with the report that he 
had not found any fresh tracks ; and we proceeded on, 
putting the Governor in the lead that he might get the 
first crack at a deer. When the Governor, well in the 
lead, saw the old camp in the way with its blazing in- 
scription, he stopped and beckoned me up to him, and 
pointing at the conspicuous welcome, said: 

"Why, what's that?" 

Rubbing and straining my eyes to the reading, I 
said: 

"Why, it says, 'Welcome, Governor Russell'; don't 
you see what it is?" , ^^ 



loo Reminiscences of 

"Yes," said Russell, "but how came it here?" 

"Why," said I, after some thought, "it must have 
been put up by the Molly chunkamunks, the settlers 
from the upper Megalloway." 

"But there are no tracks," said the Governor; "no 
one has been here for some days." 

The guide and I had to break out then, in which 
the Governor heartily joined, though much mysti- 
fied until he, pulling open the door, saw the drifted 
snow inside disturbed and the snowshoe tracks from 
the rear window. We had it pretty hard on Russell 
that night when he returned and he related his ex- 
perience amid the hilarity of our companions, and it 
was some time before he heard the last of ' ' Welcome, 
Governor Russell." 

Poor Russell, he died suddenly a few years after at 
a salmon-fishing stream in Canada. He was of modest 
and sportsmanlike quality, never happier than when 
away on the stream or lake or in forest expanse, en- 
tertaining, companionable, and appreciative, fair and 
honorable in all, and of most winning countenance. 
Strenuous without exertion, he made rapid headway in 
the esteem and affection of all who knew him, and I 
have thought if he could have lived until now, he could 
have been unanimously selected by the Democratic 
leaders for their chief, as one who though not possessing 
the massive brain of a Webster, or the magnetic power 
of a Choate, so combined the adroit faculties of mind 
and speech as to please all men, and whose honorable 
and skilful administration of State affairs as the Demo- 
cratic Governor for years over the Republican Com- 
monwealth of Massachusetts indicated the possession of 
abilities sufficient to have administered the multifarious 



A Sportsman loi 

duties of a national executive had he been called to 
that high and thankless position. He died young, and 
will ever be remembered by those who knew him well. 
I have from him a silver tankard inscribed by him, 
an unnecessary souvenir of his memory. 



PROM 1853 to i860, residing in Boston, I made sev- 
* eral trips out to California, by either the Panama 
route or the Nicaragua, which were the most rapid meth- 
ods then in vogue, requiring from twenty -five to twenty- 
eight days. The wooden side-wheel steamers then in 
use were not to be compared with the present steel- 
clad propellers; there were many mishaps occurring, 
and, if I am not mistaken, the prominent steamship 
line engaged in the California transportation lost from 
fifteen to twenty steamers in the business before the 
building of the great continental railway. On one 
trip we were struck by lightning in the Caribbean 
Sea, losing our mizzenmast and springing a bad leak, 
getting into Panama in a somewhat demoralized con- 
dition. Another time we broke our main shaft and 
had to roll about in a high sea, until we were picked up 
by another steamer and towed into port. Another 
time, with our steamer loaded to its full capacity 
with some fourteen hundred passengers, we struck a 
bad leak, in the Pacific Ocean, which gained steadily 
beyond the capacity of the pumps to relieve, and 
barely reached San Francisco in time to save the 
steamer from sinking. 

One time I went out on old Commodore Vander- 
bilt's opposition line to Greytown, where we had to 
go up the Rio del Norte on small steamers to Lake 
Nicaragua, and, crossing that, take donkeys over the 



I02 Reminiscences of 

land to the Pacific. This was one of the early trips on 
his route, and we suffered great inconveniences. The 
river was low and the little steamers got aground fre- 
quently, when we had to tumble out on shore, to ease 
the boats off. At the lake we had to remain several 
days, for notice of the arrival of the Pacific steamer 
to take us on to San Francisco. There was a delay 
about this, and as the accommodations at the Pacific 
Coast, fourteen miles from the lake, were limited, the 
twelve hundred passengers were held at the lake, 
and the provisions there were not calculated sufficient 
for more than a day or two, and the native cooks 
were a bad lot, and the region was scoured about for 
chickens, pigs, and beef, with an insufficient supply, 
and if it had not been for bananas, we would have suf- 
fered much more than we did. The soups and meats 
had body enough on the start, but the soups grad- 
ually thinned down so that it became a mystery how 
they held out. I solved it to my mind and absten- 
tion, by passing the cooking department, where I saw 
all the soup plates emptied of the refuse bones into the 
kettles, to which were added hot water and seasoning, 
and the mixtures were served over ad infinitum at a dol- 
lar a plate. It was a regular treadmill business, and sus- 
ceptible of much extension. It was undoubtedly good 
banting food, but satisfied me to be content with the 
nutritive qualities of the banana. 

In Boston at this period I was very fond of sail- 
ing in the harbor, and when I found that a good breeze 
was blowing I would go down to Long Wharf and hire a 
moderate-sized sailboat, of sloop rig, and put out be- 
yond the shipping in the open, and if the breeze was 
of good strength, it was a great pleasure if it freshened 



A Sportsman 103 

up so I could run my boat on its side with a baling-out 
bucket to throw out the surplus water I took in. Occa- 
sionally I would come near being blown out to sea from 
the harbor mouth, and on one occasion had to wreck my 
boat as night approached on the last point of land to 
save going down, as the chopping sea water-logged my 
boat, which with its several thousand pounds of pig- 
iron ballast would have soon gone under. Going 
down one day to the wharf I saw an auction sale going 
on of a fine trim sloop yacht of between thirty and 
forty tons capacity. Few were present and no bids 
came in, and at a venture I bid three hundred dollars, 
little expecting to buy so fine a yacht at that price, 
but as it was a peremptory sale, and no other bids came 
in, I became the owner, and upon looking it over 
thought I had reason to be well satisfied, as it was not 
far from new, and was completely equipped with sail 
and jib, anchor and ropes, and a good cooking stove 
forward, and a fairly good cabin with four bunks, and 
dining-table with adjunctive furnishings. It was the 
Charlotte Cushman, and had a set of colors given by 
that distinguished artiste. It seemed quite unlike a 
white elephant, and I communicated an account of 
my purchase to my two friends. Poor and Lane, clerks 
in the wholesale establishment of James Read & Co., 
and invited them to join me in the venture, which they 
did. As they were not overburdened with funds, nor 
I inclined to the possible lavish expenditure which 
might be entailed by the luxury of a yacht, it was agreed 
that we should pursue an economical course, as fol- 
lows: To hire a good skipper and allow him let our 
boat for pleasure and fishing parties, using it when 
convenient for our own pleasure. This we did, getting 



I04 Reminiscences of 

a very good sort of a fellow for skipper, giving him 
moderate pay, and allowing him to participate in a 
portion of the rentals. We ran the boat for three 
years, when we sold it for about four times what we 
paid for it, and although we added several hundred 
dollars in additions and repairs, we had the advantage 
of the letting, and came out well paid in profits, be- 
sides the pleasure and recreation we had. My friend 
Poor, who was very fond of yachting, came very near 
losing his life on a yachting excursion a few years 
afterwards when sailing in Long Island Sound. He 
was reading in the yacht cabin when a violent squall 
came on, which nearly capsized the boat. As he 
rushed out of the cabin the boat inclined over on its 
side from the squall; he pitched headlong into the 
sea, while the yacht passed on at a rapid rate, his 
mishap being scarcely noticed in the confusion 
aboard, and was soon left behind. He could not swim 
a stroke, but retained his presence of mind enough to 
keep paddling with his hands by which he kept his 
body afloat, and was finally rescued, having been seen 
by the captain of a Sound steamer, who had observed, 
though from a distance, the striking of the yacht by 
the squall and thought he observed some one go over- 
board, and using his spy -glass saw Poor in the water. 
He diverted his steamer from its course, and as he came 
near, sent out a boat and picked him up. He was 
then about insensible, but still keeping up his hand 
paddling. From this he afterwards entirely recovered, 
and died but recently while President of the Park Na- 
tional Bank of New York, the second largest capital- 
ized bank in that city. 

With my friends, Ned Poor and Lane, we organized 



A Sportsman 105 

during the yachting period a Hterary society, which 
we called the Webster Debating Club, limited in mem- 
bership to fifty, of which I was President, Poor, 
Vice-President, and Lane, Secretary. After four years 
of the club's existence, our attention being elsewhere 
attracted, the club was merged in with another 
association of like character. We had a good deal 
of interest and comfort in this club, of which we had 
weekly meetings, and conducted a literary maga- 
zine, from which the offerings of our members were 
read, and we discussed the important questions of 
the day with much freedom, if not ability. We started 
in quite a humble way, but having the indomitable 
assurance of Lane to head committees of solicitation, 
we grew comparatively opulent, and soon had a per- 
manent hall engaged and furnished. 

I look back with amusement now with the remem- 
brance of Lane's boldness and undiminished energy in 
striking for donations, when rebuffs to him were but 
incentives for renewed exertions. We created a long 
list of honorary members — who never graced our meet- 
ings by their attendance — ^which included the Presi- 
dent of the United States, Senators, and local celebrities, 
who were duly notified of the distinguished honor of 
our attention, and who almost always responded with 
appropriate letters of acceptance, and who became ob- 
jects of attention without delay from our soliciting 
committee, and who often responded with Congres- 
sional documents and publications, which although not 
especially adapted for a library of reference, made an 
important array in our hall. I called with Poor and 
Lane on Charles Sumner, Edward Everett, and Gover- 
nor Banks, and listened to the alluring invitations of 



io6 Reminiscences of 

Lane on the opportunity offered of having their works 
illustrated upon the shelves of the club. To this they 
all responded, but when it came to the straight asking 
of money donations I felt a diffidence I could not over- 
come, but Lane felt no false sentiment in this respect, 
and the twenty -five and fifty dollar donations he raked 
in became rather alarming when we had secured enough 
to defray all possible expenses for a twelvemonth ahead, 
and we had to call him off, in fear our abilities would 
not be sufficient to sustain the expectations which had 
been created. 

With our hall furnished, we branched off with a 
course of lectures, dead-heading a semi-distinguished 
embryo tic class of orators, merchants or others, who, 
having visited the Holy Land, had stood on the pyramid 
of Cheops, or had seen Vesuvius in eruption, and whose 
narratives had been of intense interest to admiring 
friends, but who had not yet been called upon by the 
acclamation of the public to stand in prominent places. 
To them we gave hearty welcome, and rewarded them 
with thanks and a dozen or two of tickets. Our tickets 
were twenty-five and fifty cents, depending upon the 
location of seats ; if near, where the expressions of the 
lecturer could be clearly observed, and no words lost, 
fifty cents; if in the rear where words sometimes 
flatten out and possible draughts occur, twenty-five 
cents. 

Numerous bunches of tickets would be disposed of, 
and often to prominent parties whose presence would 
add eclat to the occasion, but whose appearance gener- 
ally failed, owing to remarkable coincidental absences. 
A survey of the audience would sometimes indicate 
that the lower classes were awakening to a realization 



A Sportsman 107 

of their wants, and that the cuisine and laundry depart- 
ments were looking up. 

We had some rather clever young members of our 
club, many of whom have gone before. Lane, despite 
his retiring disposition, still lives in the possession of 
a large fortune. We had in political ways some oppo- 
sites: George H. Hoyt, was a most eloquent young 
speaker, of decided Anti-Slavery sentiments, who upon 
the trial of Ossawatomie Brown, who made the foray 
at Harper's Ferry, ending in his execution, went down 
and appeared in his defence as counsel, and who died 
soon after. J. B. Shepard, quite the opposite of 
Hoyt in political ways, became prominent in Tam- 
many afterwards. Hiram B. Banks, brother of Gov- 
ernor Banks, fell at Fair Oaks in the war, as did 
several of our club members. Several are still liv- 
ing in Boston in mercantile life. Two or three went 
to the bad from drink, and others I have lost sight of. 
About this time I met Richard and Peter B. Olney, the 
former afterward Secretary of State under President 
Cleveland. I met them for the first time at the 
country residence of my friend their uncle, Peter 
Butler, at Quincy, Mass., during the Christmas holidays. 
They both were then completing their collegiate courses 
in Rhode Island, and were about my age. They were 
strong, hearty lads, and of the two I gave Peter B. 
the preference in looks and manners. On the first day 
I met Richard, he was spending the greater part of his 
time in scouring his somewhat prominent teeth with 
the bruised end of a stick of liquorice wood. He was 
not particularly attractive, and his countenance was 
disfigured by a large prominent scar across one cheek, 
which gave him a somewhat severe aspect, but his cast 



io8 Reminiscences of 

was strong, and soon after entering the law office of his 
father-in-law he made rapid progress, and later on be- 
came associate counsel for several important railroads, 
one of which, the Atlantic and Pacific, had a pretty 
hard time in its earlier days, being constructed through 
a very barren country from Albuquerque in New 
Mexico to Mojave in California, and a road with which 
I had some familiarity, and at the time of making its 
annual report, I was in some wonderment what kind 
of a report could be given satisfactory to the stock- 
holders. When the report was made, I was surprised 
at its clearness and power, and, well aware of the tact- 
fulness of Richard, I immediately assumed that, as 
I did not know of any officer of the company whom I 
thought capable of writing so clever a report, he had 
written it, and called upon him at his office and men- 
tioned my conclusion, which, in a smiling way, he 
neither affirmed or denied. As a corporation lawyer 
I account him one of the first, possessing a superior 
knowledge of law, and a clear-headed, drastic method 
of expounding seldom equalled. As a chief executive 
of the nation I should have more fear of his combative 
and antagonizing spirit than I would that of which 
animated the lamented President McKinley and Gov- 
ernor William Russell. Knowing him as well as I do, 
he would be one of the last of whom I should ask a 
favor, and in saying this, I but echo the expression 
of a dear friend of mine, to whom Mr. Olney was in- 
debted for many substantial advantages. 

In i860 I engaged in a commercial business, which 
I followed for five years, but which grew more engross- 
ing year by year, until I found myself so confined that I 
had a difficulty at times in arranging my visits to the 



A Sportsman 109 

lakes, although I laid out my sporting excursions for 
months ahead, which I never, despite many perplexi- 
ties, failed to respond to. 

This was the period when I denied myself the read- 
ing of books and papers pertaining to sports, as too 
inflammatory for my peace of mind, and if in looking 
over a paper I saw the heading of game killing or ad- 
ventures, I passed it by, waiting as patiently as I could 
for my times of excursions. 

While engaged in business, at the commencement 
of the Civil War, having belonged to a militaiy com- 
pany for several years, the Independent Corps of 
Cadets, I enlisted with several hundred men I had se- 
cured, on the first call, for three months' service, and 
received a captain's commission, serving for the period 
mentioned. It was thought at the time that the war 
would be of short duration, but unfortunately this ex- 
pectation was not realized, and the war carried on for 
several years occasioned the loss of over a million men, 
and over three billions of treasure to the government, 
and probably several times the amount of three billions 
in the aggregated loss of expenditures by the Southern 
Confederacy, in the loss of slave ownership and the 
destruction of property. That the war was a neces- 
sity, except from the heat of the irrepressible conflict 
brought on by the Abolitionists of the North and the 
fire-eaters of the South, is not quite clear. The fanat- 
ical classes, North and South, fanning the flames of dis- 
union, were at first viewed with amusement by the 
conservative sentiment of the country, but at last all 
became involved by the hasty acts of these fanatics 
and demagogues, creating a necessity for every one 
taking a warlike stand on one side or the other. The 



no Reminiscences of 

crisis came when argument and reason were unavail- 
ing. If the Abohtion leaders and the fire-eaters, firing 
at each other at long range, could have been confined 
in some area, where they could have fought to the ex- 
termination of each other, it would have been a great 
blessing to the country, and the war could have been 
averted by the action of sober reason by making a 
proper valuation of the slaves to be paid for by the 
general government, thus removing the primal cause 
of conflict. This, however, could not have been 
brought about at the time of President Lincoln's elec- 
tion, for neither the North nor the South would have 
consented to it. 



P\ISPOSING in the early part of 1865 of my com- 
■'-^ mercial interests, and experiencing the exhilara- 
tion of a freedom I had long been denied, I resolved to 
take my way to the Rocky Mountains, having read so 
many accounts of adventurous life there from the in- 
teresting sketches of the early pioneers. 

Before leaving for the West I concluded to take a 
trip down to the Pennsylvania oil regions, which at 
that time were creating much excitement. This I 
fancied would be a rather agreeable excursion, but 
found in it more peril than the one I soon afterwards 
made across the great plains to the mountains. Before 
the train I was on reached Titusville two miles distant 
it came to a standstill from an excess of water over the 
track. It had been raining for several days, and the 
country was flooded. The train was in a sheet of 
water several hundred feet from land, and as the water 
was growing deeper — already so deep as to almost put 
out the engine's fire — it was deemed expedient to hold 



A Sportsman iii 

up, perhaps for all night. The train was loaded with 
passengers to excess, so much so that many had 
to stand between the occupied seats. It was not a 
pleasant situation. Some countrymen after awhile 
made a rough raft of fence timbers and boards and 
poled out to the train, offering to take passengers ashore 
for a dollar apiece. I secured a place on the raft with 
all the baggage I had, a pretty good-sized hand-bag. 
Too many availed themselves of the opportunity 
offered, and in consequence when about fifty feet from 
the land the raft broke apart, and let us all in the water. 
Fortunately it was not very deep, but pretty nearly up 
to one's shoulders, so we all waded to the land with our 
hand-bags thoroughly soaked. No teams of convey- 
ance being at hand we all walked on to Titusville, con- 
veying our bags after draining out what water we 
could. 

It was dark when we arrived at our destination, 
and we found the water running through the streets up 
to the sidewalks and in some cases over. It being in 
the very height of the excitement, the little town was 
crowded with a great many more visitors than it could 
accommodate, and the only hotel there could hardly 
feed its guests, and no rooms or beds could be obtained. 
The sitting-room and halls were occupied for sleeping 
places, without cots or mattresses. There was a large 
barroom, crowded full, where the tobacco smoke was 
so thick that it could hardly be seen through. The 
exciting subject of conversation was Oil! Oil! Oil! 
Great strikes and the expression of hundreds of thou- 
sands of dollars were as plentiful as flies in the dog 
days, and one would suppose from the somewhat rough 
crowd present that it was composed of millionaires in 



112 Reminiscences of 

disguise. There was a large cylinder stove in one part 
of the barroom, so red hot that more space existed 
about it than elsewhere, and near this I proceeded to 
the inner circle. Here I divested myself of my outer 
clothing, and managed in an hour or so by revolving 
about to pretty well dry my underwear. Wringing out 
the contents of my bag and holding out some of my 
outer clothing, I managed before I lay down on the 
floor for the night to approach some degree of dryness, 
and I passed the night much more comfortably than 
one would if lost overboard at sea. 

At the railroad station in Boston, just before 
leaving, I was sought for and found by an acquaintance, 
Carlos Pierce, who had happened to hear that I was 
going to the oil regions, and who asked me if I would 
visit a tract on Oil Creek below Titus ville, which he 
had an option of purchase on for a limited time for 
some amount. I told him it was quite impossible as I 
was going on a pleasure excursion and I could not give 
any attention to business. He was very persistent and 
disinclined to take a refusal, and finally said as his 
period of option was short, he would give me five hun- 
dred dollars to take a look at it, even brief, and inform 
him by telegraph if a new well of value had been reached 
upon the tract, which had been reported to him, but 
which he had some doubts about. 

I finally yielded to my friend's solicitations, though 
reluctantly, and the result put me to a great deal of 
bother, for the next day was the one I should have to 
visit the tract and the prospects of getting there in the 
morning appeared very dubious when I looked out on 
the booming Oil Creek, and the frightfully muddy roads. 
Besides, the bridge across a creek close to the town, 



A Sportsman 113 

running into the main road, had been carried away, 
and this creek had to be crossed on the route down Oil 
Creek to the optioned tract. The creek, I was told, 
could be forded a short way above the bridge site. I 
managed, over the muddy and half -flooded sidewalks, 
to get to a livery stable to engage a saddle-horse for 
the trip, but was met with a decided refusal from the 
keeper to let any horse out in the present condition. 
Looking over his saddle-horses, I asked him if he would 
sell me a pretty sturdy -looking nag with a saddle and 
bridle outfit, which he answered in the affirmative, the 
price being one hundred and fifty dollars. I paid him 
the sum, and started out, leaving my bag with him 
for safekeeping until my return. My starting out 
to ford the creek attracted a number of dead-head 
spectators as the creek had not been forded since the loss 
of the bridge. My horse took the water in good cour- 
age, but the water kept growing deeper until I had to 
hold my legs up as high as I could, and I commenced 
to congratulate myself upon a comfortable passage, 
when my horse dumped in and commenced swimming. 
I had some difficulty in keeping on, but had acquired 
some experience in swimming horses, and succeeded in 
doing so by hugging down on my horse's neck and by 
holding on to his mane. I lost my seat before getting 
over, but kept my mane hold, and although the cur- 
rent was strong got safely across with him. I then 
had fifteen miles of a frightfully muddy road to get 
over to the tract in view, where the mud in its clayey, 
tenacious character was about the worst I ever en- 
countered, and if I had not had a very strong horse I 
could never have gotten over it. I arrived at the tract 
about noon, and found in reality that a new powerfiil 



114 Reminiscences of 

oil-gusher had been struck, adding much to the value. 
I then had to detour several miles to Franklin for a 
telegraph office, and send off a message to Pierce. 

Oil City, on the Alleghany, at the mouth of Oil Creek, 
was fifteen miles below, and although a drizzly rain was 
falling — from which I hadbecome immune — I pushed on 
over the muddy roads. As I occasionally came in sight 
of Oil Creek, I saw that it was at a booming height, and 
carrying along trees and wrecks of buildings, with an 
occasional small house or two and dead cattle, with 
the water more or less surfaced with petroletim from 
overflowing wells or damaged tanks. At Oil City — as 
I approached at sundown — I saw the backwater 
from the Alleghany River had spread over a large 
area, flooding a large part of the town from which 
the inhabitants had fled to higher ground where 
they were camping out, as all the upper ground 
houses and the church and schoolhouse were filled up. 
It looked unfavorable for a night's lodging. But as I 
passed along I overtook a gentleman with whom I had 
some conversation, and who kindly offered to give me 
a sofa in his sitting-room, his house otherwise be- 
ing crowded. This I gladly accepted, and got my 
horse well put-up and fed. The wife of my host gave 
me a good supper accompanied with a bowl of fine 
coffee, from which I partook so heartily that I failed 
to get any sleep during the night, nor did I feel par- 
ticularly fatigued. Having a stove in the room I occu- 
pied, I dried my clothes pretty well and passed the 
night in reading from the small library my room 
contained. 

The following morning I mounted my steed, which 
I found comfortably refreshed, and rode back to Titus- 



A Sportsman 115 

ville, succeeding in getting across the creek I crossed 
the morning before, by going up higher, and got over 
without swimming my horse. I was the first down to 
Oil City to carry news of the conditions above, and the 
first on my return to give news of the conditions be- 
low. I succeeded in getting a bed that night and 
obtained a good rest. 

The water had fallen, though still high, and the 
town was still crowded as before. I concluded I had 
seen enough of the oil regions and would return home. 
The trains in and out from Titusville were running 
very irregularly, and I took the one out in the after- 
noon for the Junction, where a change was to be made 
to another train, to arrive in a short time, but the 
expected train did not arrive until two o'clock in the 
morning and was crowded to its utmost capacity, and 
could in no way accommodate the passengers waiting; 
but I succeeded in getting on and in checking my bag 
to New York, which was fortunate, or I would other- 
wise have lost it in the wreck which followed. 

The morning opened bright and clear, and after 
breakfast at a stopping-place, I crowded into the front 
smoking-car to have a smoke, the car and train being 
as crowded as the train I came down in, with a large 
number of passengers standing in the passageways and 
between seats. The track was very rough, and water 
flew out occasionally from beneath the sleepers as the 
train passed on; still the train was pushed on with 
great speed, so much so that I became much alarmed, 
and one of the passengers remarked to the conductor 
as he came along that he thought the speed was alto- 
gether too rapid, with the condition of the road, to 
which the conductor replied rather curtly, with an 



ii6 Reminiscences of 

intimation that it was his business. I felt so much 
alarmed with the rocking and swinging of the car that 
I thought it prudent to retire to the rear end of the 
train, which I had great difficulty in doing in pushing 
through the crowded cars, there being eleven of them 
from the baggage. The last car was a sleeper, crowded 
full, of which the door was locked to keep out the fre- 
quent calls of outside passengers for admittance. 
Finally, by thumping vigorously, I brought the porter 
to the door, who opened it partially, and in answer 
to my request to be admitted declared that it was ut- 
terly impossible, as it would hold no more. I told him 
it was important to see a friend of mine in the car 
without delay, at the same time exhibiting a five- 
dollar bill, which I offered him in case of admission. 
It was sufficient for my purpose, and the colored 
porter passed me in, finding the car as much over- 
crowded as the others. 

Not more than five minutes after my entry, a violent 
series of shocks occurred, as of most severe breaking 
up, which came from the smashing of the cars ahead, 
and which brought our car to a standstill, but not 
until the front half had left the track, being the only 
car of which any part remained upon the rails. We 
were not prepared to witness the scene which met our 
sight upon going out from our car. No wreck could 
hardly be more complete. We had been running at a 
speed which I should estimate at fully forty miles an 
hour. A broken rail over which the engine and bag- 
gage car had passed threw off the smoking-car and all 
following to the sleeper. The car next ahead of ours 
was thrown over on its side with its front end smashed 
in. The next three or four cars were more or less 



A Sportsman 117 

smashed in and lying in a deep ditch full of water near 
the track, bottom side up, with their wheels sticking 
up. One of them was so deep in the water that the 
water was above the windows. The other cars were 
lying smashed up at various angles. The injured pas- 
sengers were giving out groans and piteous cries. All 
those who were uninjured gave immediate aid, and we 
stretched out on the track the dead and badly wounded. 
The upturned car so deep in the water could not be 
opened otherwise than by breaking in from the bottom, 
a most difficult and prolonged work which was effected 
by axes and the broken rail, and in this car a number 
were drowned. 

This was the most terrible accident it was possible 
to imagine, and the only one in all my experience I 
ever witnessed where death occurred from a railroad 
wreck, and I believe I have travelled by rail during 
my life a distance equal to that of ten times around 
the world. In this accident over a hundred persons 
were killed or wounded. Over thirty were killed out- 
right. It was a shocking sight to see the dead, dying, 
and wounded lying along the track. It was some 
time before an aiding train brought medical attendance 
and helping hands. The accident occurred the latter 
part of April near the small town of Oriskany. It was 
eleven miles to Utica, and it was so long before a train 
was ready to convey the remaining passengers that I 
walked the track to that town ; there I caught a train 
for New York, where I afterward obtained my travel- 
ling bag. This was the ending of an intended pleasure 
trip. 

I caught a bad cold, and when I arrived in New 
York I had a fever and broke out with some boils 



ii8 Reminiscences of 

on my neck and face, which confined me to my room 
for between two and three weeks. Before I fairly recov- 
ered my usual good health I returned to Boston and, 
gathering in my fishing rods and guns, started for the 
distant West in the month of May, 1865. No railroad 
was then built reaching to the Missouri River from 
Chicago, excepting the Hannibal and St. Joseph, which 
was then badly broken up and periodically raided by 
the holding-out rebels in the State of Missouri. I 
therefore took the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad 
from Chicago, which was not then extended nearer 
than seventy miles to the river, staging the balance of 
the way to Atchison, and from there by the Ben Holli- 
day line of stages to Denver across the unsettled great 
plains. These stages left daily, consuming from six to 
seven days en route, travelling day and night over a 
region where then existed a condition of warfare with 
the numerous tribes of Indians, banded together in 
united hostilities against the whites. At this time 
some ten thousand soldiers were required to keep the 
route open. The troops employed were largely com- 
posed of Confederate soldiers taken prisoners during 
the war, and were designated as Galvanized Yankees, 
and were so employed in the scarcity of government 
soldiers, who were required at the front in the great 
struggle for the preservation of the Union. 

It was necessary to have each stage across the 
plains accompanied by an escort of mounted soldiers, 
and even though so protected stages were often at- 
tacked and driven into the stations existing from fif- 
teen to twenty miles apart over the way. All the 
male passengers by the stages carried guns for defence, 
and constituted in themselves a strong force. In case 



A Sportsman 119 

of attack it was the habit of passengers to take the 
rear of the stage, where a better resistance could be 
given than when cooped up inside. On this trip no 
attack was made, though we had some false alarms and 
fancied we saw Indians occasionally in the distance. 

One morning at an early hour we saw a man a long 
distance off, running toward us and waving his arm in 
signal. A pocket-glass showed him to be a white man, 
evidently about stripped of clothing. We held up for 
him, and when he was able to gain his voice after re- 
viving from his exhausted condition, we found him to 
be the sole survivor of an Indian raid. The Indians had 
captured a ranch house some miles off on a creek, 
where a family of eight, which included four men, had 
all been killed but himself. He, being taken un- 
wounded a prisoner, was probably reserved for torture. 
He had been almost stripped of his clothing, and had 
a finger chopped off, to secure a plain gold ring he 
wore, which was difficult to remove. He could, he 
said, have worked it off in a little while, but the im- 
patient savages upon discovering it had a competition 
for its possession, and it was settled abruptly by one of 
their number cleverer than the rest, who lopped off the 
offending member, and from ignorance ofj anatomical 
operations very nearly severed two others. The pris- 
oner had been tied up for two nights, held in reserve 
for an hour of recreation, when the gentle savages 
would have the leisure to fully enjoy the pleasure of 
his sufferings at the stake, which he had reasons from 
significant signs to believe would occur on the follow- 
ing day. He had the night preceding his reaching us 
managed to get loose from his thongs and steal off. 
He travelled about in the dark, getting some miles 



I20 Reminiscences of 

away from the Indian camp, and at daylight, seeing 
no traces of his enemies, made haste in the direction 
of the Overland road, knowing from the rising sun the 
general direction toward it, resulting in his secured 
escape. His naked feet were bleeding from the prickly 
pear plants he had travelled over, and altogether he 
was a sorry-looking object. We left him at the next 
station. 

Although somewhat weak in the first days out in 
staging I pulled up pretty well before the arrival at 
Denver, after the six hundred miles of passage. Den- 
ver was then a somewhat dilapidated town of a few 
thousand people, and as we drew in at the Planters 
Hotel — a rather unpromising wooden building — we had 
a delegation of citizens there to inspect the new arri- 
vals, as one of the prominent events of the day. It 
was at Denver, in the small stream running through 
the town, that gold was first discovered a few years 
before, and which led on to the finding of the mineral 
veins in the mountains above. The population of the 
Territory at the time was estimated at from twenty- 
five to thirty thousand, of which a large proportion 
was scattered about in the mining districts. 

Our arrival was heralded in the following morning 
paper, and I was amused at finding myself designated 
as a prominent professor of mineralogy sent out from 
the East by important financial interests to invest in 
the unrivalled mineral wealth of the region. This 
beset me with numerous calls during the few days I 
remained in town from embryo tic millionaires, who 
carefully unfolded packages of mineral ores for my in- 
spection, with intimations that I could glut myself with 
boundless deposits of golden ores in the mountains 



A Sportsman 121 

without even going up there for examinations. To the 
first caller I gave assurances that my knowledge of 
mineral ores was exceedingly limited and that I was 
not even a professor. I overheard my querist after- 
ward reciting to a small audience that I was a humbug 
and did n't even know a good ore when I saw it. This 
led me to exercise more caution, and securing a small 
magnifying-glass and a pocket mineral-scraping knife, 
I was better prepared for the next visitor, who un- 
folded a precious specimen from the celebrated Killbug 
mine. I put on the full power of my glass in critical 
examination, remarking: 

"How much have you got of this?" to which he 
might rejoin, "Seven hundred feet and Brother Tom 
has four hundred feet more." 

Then giving the specimen a scrape with my mineral 
knife and another glass examination, I would say, 
"Better hold on to it," which I felt quite sure he would. 
I then began to retrieve my sinking reputation. 

In a few days I took stage for the Central City min- 
ing district, forty miles up in the mountains, situated 
on a creek between hills. Colorado was then in a 
very languishing condition. The decomposed surface- 
ground over mineral veins having more or less free gold 
had been worked over, as well as favorable gulches; 
and the stubborn sulphurets, though gaudy and attrac- 
tive to sight and containing more or less gold, could 
not be successfully worked, owing to the association 
with sulphur, zinc, iron, and various other minerals. 



T 



HE discovery by some emigrants, in 1858, of gold 
upon the shore of Cherry Creek, in the present 



122 Reminiscences of 

city of Denver, twelve miles from the mountains, first 
drew attention toward Colorado as a mining region. 
At that time there were no white residents in the Terri- 
tory, excepting a colony of Mexicans, who were located 
in San Luis Park, in the extreme southern part, en- 
gaged in sheep raising, cultivating the soil to a limited 
extent, and depending upon the trading settlement of 
Santa F6 South for their supplies. With this excep- 
tion the whole region was wild and unbroken, inhab- 
ited in sections by tribes of Indians living in a primitive 
state, who, drawing from the soil a very scanty propor- 
tion of the food required by them, depended almost 
entirely upon the wild animals abounding in the region. 
These tribes were constantly in strife with each other 
and by their hostile manners prevented peaceful settle- 
ments in the region, claiming it as their hereditary 
hunting-ground . 

The discovery of gold, however, stimulated an emi- 
gration of hardy pioneers from the eastern section of 
Kansas, Nebraska, and Missouri, who, going in bodies, 
were sufficiently strong to defend themselves from any 
attacks which the Indians could make. These emi- 
grants followed up the different tributaries of the 
Platte into the mountains, where they discovered a 
large number of rich mineral veins. 

During the years of i860, 1861, and 1862 there was 
a continuous stream of emigration to Colorado, but 
during the years of 1863, 1864, and 1865 it received 
a material check; this owing to a variety of causes, 
some of which we will briefly review. First, the war 
unhappily existing in the United States distracted pub- 
lic attention to a great extent from the region; also 
reports — ^having their foundation in reality — of the 



A Sportsman 123 

privations and sufferings experienced by the first set- 
tlers were widely circulated through the United States. 
The long passage, exceeding six hundred miles, from 
the last settlements of the Eastern States to the moun- 
tains of Colorado, over a sweeping plain, denuded of 
timber and yielding only a precarious supply of food 
to man, necessitated the taking of supplies sufficient 
for the through passage. This passage, when taken 
with mules or oxen, required from thirty to sixty days, 
and was often indefinitely prolonged by bad weather 
or by the loss of animals. In such cases — ^which were 
not infrequent — and in others when the amount of 
provisions taken was inadequate for the ordinary 
passage, much want existed, and for a period extend- 
ing a considerable length over the early days of Colo- 
rado there was a great scarcity of food in the mining 
regions, and often the worn-out emigrant from the 
plains arrived to find a condition of affairs but little 
better than he had known upon the road. 

There were also great difficulties met with in work- 
ing the refractory minerals found when the mines were 
sunk below the surface ores; these, though vastly 
richer than the decomposed ore above them, would not 
yield the precious metal by the simple and rude pro- 
cess found so profitable when applied to disintegrated 
or alluvial deposits. 

But the great evils which discouraged emigration 
more than any others were those entailed by the In- 
dian wars, which raged during the years 1864 and 
1865. The different tribes of Indians upon the plains, 
who saw the regions they had so long considered ex- 
clusively their own continually invaded by emigrants, 
were not slow to resent a real or fancied injury, and 



124 Reminiscences of 

sunk their personal animosities, their heritage, and 
combined in a general league against the invaders. 
The opportunity was seized when the Civil War in the 
United States had reached its greatest height, when 
the government, requiring all its power, had with- 
drawn to a great extent its forces from the frontier. 
The injuries, aggravated by acts of retaliation given 
and received, inflamed the Indians to more desperate 
acts of valor and cruelty than they had ever exhibited 
before. 

With scarcely an intimation of their purposes, they 
suddenly and simultaneously attacked the route over 
the plains. Sweeping down upon emigrant teams, and 
the small settlements which had been established every 
twelve or fifteen miles upon the route, as stations for 
the mail and stage lines, they massacred the whites 
indiscriminately — men, women, and children, — often 
scalping and mutilating the bodies of their victims. 
The wagons and buildings, after being divested of all 
that pleased the savage eye, were given to the flames. 
In one place, for a distance of one hundred and fifty 
miles, the route was made desolate. From other 
places the inhabitants and emigrants were driven to 
central spots, where for days they were besieged by 
their savage foes. The military station at Julesburg, 
where a considerable number of troops were congre- 
gated, as well as emigrants, was surrounded for a num- 
ber of days by a large body of Indians who, cutting off 
communication in every direction, made desperate 
efforts to obtain possession of it, and were only re- 
pulsed by the use of canister and grape. 

The nimiber of Indians engaged in these outrages 
was from ten thousand to fifteen thousand, though at 



A Sportsman 125 

the time the number was supposed to be larger, as the 
tribes to which these Indians belonged comprised some 
thirty thousand warriors. The condition of affairs in 
Colorado during these difficulties was aggravated by 
the expectation of attacks from other tribes than those 
engaged upon the plains, who were living in the moun- 
tain regions adjacent; but, fortunately, those tribes 
maintained a peaceful attitude. 

In the meantime troops were sent from the East, 
and volunteer companies were organized in Colorado 
from the hardy miners, who scoured the plains in all 
directions and soon opened the route. But the vigi- 
lance and activity of the savages prevented their being 
punished to any considerable extent. In one instance, 
however, a large body of them were surrounded when 
encamped near a stream, not a long distance from 
Denver City, when from four hundred to five hundred 
of the Indians were killed. 

During this condition of affairs, although the mail 
and stage lines were open almost all the time, and pas- 
sages of combined bodies of emigrants were regularly 
and safely made, prices for the necessaries of life rose 
to a height previously unknown in the Territory. 
Com, oats, and other grains sold at from twenty to 
twenty-five cents per pound; potatoes from five to 
fifteen cents per pound ; flour, butter, and other articles 
of food sold at prices correspondingly high. Freight 
across the plains to the Territory readily commanded 
an average price of ten cents per pound, in some in- 
stances reaching twenty-five cents per pound. 

The natural result in Colorado was an increase in 
price of labor, which could not be obtained at less than 
from $5 to $10 per day. During those years mining 



126 Reminiscences of 

languished, and at least half of the miners who had 
emigrated to the Territory in previous years left it for 
the new mining regions still farther west, which had 
their communications with the States of California and 
Oregon, upon the Pacific Coast. 

But despite the high prices and Indian difficulties 
which prevailed, a large emigration set in during the 
svimmer of the year 1865, which was encouraged by 
the protection afforded by the government in placing 
ten thousand troops upon the route from the Missouri 
River to Salt Lake. 

A large number of the emigrants who crossed the 
plains in 1865 were en route for regions beyond; but 
the amount of freight received in Colorado during that 
year exceeded that of any previous one; and a large 
number of settlers were added to the population of the 
Territory. The emigration over the plains during the 
year 1865 was immense. The government alone paid 
a sum exceeding $6,000,000 for freight across the 
country to its various Western military stations. The 
amount of freight which was carried over the plains in 
1865 is estimated to have exceeded one hundred and 
fifty million pounds. 

From fifteen to twenty thousand teams were em- 
ployed in the passage, some of which made two trips 
to the mountains during the summer, the average 
amount of freight carried by the teams being five thou- 
sand pounds, each team having four to six horses or 
mules, or from six to twelve oxen. The writer, while 
returning east over the plains by stage in 1865 counted 
in three days 3384 teams of this description, all passing 
westward; the distance made by the stage during this 
time being three hundred and twenty miles. At one 



A Sportsman 127 

point upon the route there passed westward, by actual 
count, in sixty days, 9494 teams, having over fifty- 
eight thousand head of horses, mules, and oxen. 

The emigration of 1866 was large and steady, un- 
interrupted by Indian raids, the savages having been 
driven far away from the routes. The plains, though 
free of timber, are well watered, and covered with a 
rich soil, which yields a heavy-bladed grass of the 
most nutritious quality, and from which the cattle 
employed in freighting to Colorado acquired a fatness 
which well fitted them for the market. This grass 
grows in a native state to a considerable height, and 
could be cut for hay by thousands and millions of tons. 

Antelopes in large numbers were found upon the 
plains, also rabbits of large size, wolves, ground-squir- 
rels, grouse, snipe, curlews, etc. Immense herds of 
buffalo roamed annually over the expanse, at times 
so plentiful as to prevent for days the passage of teams. 
At some seasons they could be seen by thousands and 
tens of thousands, strung out over an area of from 
fifty to one hundred miles in width. The Indians 
slaughtered them in large numbers; and, after taking 
from them favorite strips of meat, left their immense 
bodies, weighing from six hundred to one thousand 
pounds, to be eaten by wolves or to decay upon the 
ground. 

The Civil War, and especially the Indian hostilities 
in the plains, had largely distracted attention from 
the Rocky Mountain region, and as no process for 
working the refractory ores was known — among a class 
principally composed of ruralists — money had become 
very scarce; in fact, the Territory was very hard up 
in a financial way, and a good honest American dollar 



128 Reminiscences of 

(worth to make about forty cents) was as large, meta- 
phorically saying, as a cart-wheel. Everybody had 
mines to sell, and no buyers, and expectant million- 
aires were hard up for tobacco and stimulants. I 
hired one afterwards to ride a mule with a load of pro- 
visions and cooking utensils to go into the parks on a 
hunting excursion, who modestly computed the value 
of his holdings at twenty millions of dollars, and who 
had put up his ten-dollar silver watch for a small loan 
to tide himself over, as he told me. 

The occupants of the numerous caravans of 1863 
and 1864, which had struggled across the plains so 
manfully for the auriferous deposits of the Rocky 
Mountains, with the suggestive mottoes on the sides of 
their ships of the plains of "Pike's Peak or Bust," had 
found that the accomplishment of the initial object 
comprised the full sense of the alternative. 

Denver fell down nearly half in its population in 
1866 by the exodus out, as soon as the plains were 
practically cleared of the Indians. The different tribes 
of the desert were largely overcome in 1866 and 1867 
and placed under guard on reservations, and it was 
found much cheaper to feed and blanket them than to 
fight them. 

I fished about the streams of Boulder and Clear 
creeks with indifferent success, owing largely to the 
cloudy condition of the waters from mining works. At 
Central City I met H. M. Teller — now United States 
Senator from Colorado — ^who has been a long time in 
political life. He was the leading attorney in the 
State, and I trust he will take no offence if I mention 
that I retained him, in view of possible want of advice, 
for the sum of thirty dollars for the year. At the Gold 



A Sportsman 129 

Dirt mining district I met George M. Pullman, after- 
ward prominent in railroad affairs and President of the 
company bearing his name. 

I made an excursion with a guide and hunter 
named Utter for mountain goats in the ranges higher 
up than at Central, the altitude of the latter being 
about eight thousand feet, and where goats had been 
seen, but without our seeing any, although Utter killed 
a large grizzly bear, of which I still have the skin in 
Maine. Utter tracked the bear over a thin fall of snow 
to its den, and left our camp, which was near, at the 
very earliest gleam of light and took his place in a 
tree opposite the den and fatally shot the bear as it 
came out, in less than an hour after Utter had taken 
his position. 

Colorado at that time was as rough in its social 
elements as new mining regions generally are, and had 
a stronger color put on in this respect by the influx of 
a highly dangerous class from Missouri and Kansas, 
composed of men who belonged to the bushwhacking 
and guerilla bands which had been broken up finally 
by the close of the w^ar, and those who were not killed 
or captured had to flee for their lives and many came 
out to Colorado, where they were more or less looked 
after, and a good many were shot or strung up on short 
notice upon their capture, after committing robberies 
and murders. It is surprising to note that these des- 
peradoes could act as badly and reckless as they did 
in view of the disgust they created and the steady 
decimation of their numbers which occurred from the 
indignant communities they infested. But they kept 
coming, and some, separating from others, distributed 
themselves in the various mining districts, where they 



130 Reminiscences of 

were soon spotted and disposed of unless very careful 
in the various disguises they adopted. Others ganged 
together and occupied separate camps from the miners, 
from which they would make forays as of old in the 
regions they formerly raided. 

These desperadoes were generally known as the 
double-pistol brigade, from their accoutrements and 
from wearing two large six-shooters in their belts. 
Four of them made a raid one night when I was at 
Central in an office building belonging to the Bobtail 
Mining Company in town, which kept its bullion ac- 
cumulated in the office safe before shipment, which 
building was not occupied at night, but was near other 
occupied buildings. These whackers had tampered with 
one of the miners employed by the company through 
whom they learned of the safe deposits, and whom they 
had gained over, they supposed, but who weakened and 
divulged to the owners all about it, and the night and 
hour when the raid was to take place. The whackers 
came, and as they opened the office building they were 
fired upon by concealed guards, and so effectually that 
all fell, three killed and the fourth mortally wounded. 
Here the bodies were allowed to lie on the ground, and 
I, hearing of it, went down in the morning to see the 
sight. The bodies were still there in view of the assem- 
bled spectators, with the wounded man still alive, 
cursing everything and everybody and without medi- 
cal aid, and soon died. It was proposed to string him 
up in his dying condition, but better counsel prevailed. 



HAD two friends at Spanish Bar, on the Platte 
River, — about five miles from Central, — Brune and 



A Sportsman 131 

Davis, who were both disciples of the pleasant sport. 
I was in the habit of visiting and fishing with them 
and went down one day to pass the night with them, 
Brune being a surveyor and Davis the local Recorder 
of the mining district. They had a little house there 
in which they lived, and there were no more than three 
or four houses then in the settlement. It was a pleas- 
ant afternoon and I walked there. 

Spanish Bar was situated at a much lower altitude 
than Central, and leading down to the Bar was a long, 
steep ravine, called Virginia Canon, which had a wagon 
road down it. Three quarters of the way down was a 
deserted log cabin and a turn in the ravine. I met no 
one until I reached the cabin, and here I met a very 
rough man, hatless, whose countenance indicated the 
free use of ardent spirits and whose eyes were red from 
recent libations. He wore a thin linen coat, and as 
the breeze down the ravine blew it open I saw that he 
was doubly armed with a brace of big six-shooters. I 
had met one of the double-pistol brigade, and it was 
not very pleasant, considering the place. I passed the 
word of day with him and kept on, declined the appar- 
ent disposition he seemed to evince for a parley. I 
was suspicious, and as I kept on I slightly turned my 
head so as to keep him in view, and I saw that he had 
stopped and was regarding me, and he called out, ask- 
ing if I had met any one before him as I came down, 
to which I answered "No," still keeping on, as I ob- 
served his right hand was on his pistol handle, where 
mine went without delay, as I was armed, and I kept 
steadily on, still keeping him in view and left him stand- 
ing where he stopped, and the turn in the road soon 
left him out of view. I had not gone far — perhaps 



13- Reminiscences of 

twenty rods — ^when I heard a pistol shot ring out from 
the place I had left him, but being quite out of range 
I presumed that in the half -maudlin state he was in 
he perhaps had taken a stray shot at one of the red 
squirrels, which were plentiful along the ravine. 

When I arrived at B rune's I told him of the occur- 
rence, and he said the man was one of the bush- 
whackers who belonged to a gang which was camped 
up the stream a mile or so above, and that the chap 
had passed the house not long before and had stopped 
to ask for a drink, which could not be furnished. We 
had supper, and after taking a quiet smoke and talking 
over the inexhaustible subject of fishing, a man en- 
tered with a lantern, being a neighbor, saying that he 
had just come down the canon and that there was a 
dead man lying in the road not far above the bend, 
who had evidently been shot and robbed, judging from 
the loose papers lying about him. Our glances were 
significant, and we saw that the man following me had 
been shot and robbed. We got two or three men to 
accompany us and all went up there, and found the 
dead man lying on his back as left in the road, with 
his face upturned and as placid in the full moonlight 
as if sleeping. Near, on the side of the road, where it 
had been carelessly thrown, was a long breast pocket- 
book, which had been stripped and from which the 
loose papers had been thrown out. We rigged up 
some boards from the floor of the old cabin, carried 
him down to the Bar, depositing the body in an 
adjacent shed, and hunted up the Assistant Sheriff of 
the place, who declined to go after the murderer that 
night, but would in the morning, and did, but found no 
trace of him, and the matter was dropped. 



A Sportsman 133 

The murdered man had no name or paper about 
him by which he could be identified, and a rough box 
was made for his interment, which took place the fol- 
lowing day. The grave was not very deep on the 
side-hill, and no more than two or three besides our 
party attended the burial. Brune got out his old 
Episcopal prayer-book and read the burial service. 
As he was reading, down the road came a dozen 
bushwhackers riding as if in a race. When they saw 
us on the hillside they abated the speed of their horses 
and came up to us, inquiring what was going on, and 
on being informed, one of them dismounted and, giving 
his horse in charge of a companion, said : "I will make 
a prayer for the dead man," and, kneeling by the 
grave, gave a frightfully blasphemous prayer for the 
dead, remarking as he remounted, ' ' That will save him 
from hell." They all then rode off at a racing speed 
and we saw no more of them. We remained silent dur- 
ing the interruption, and afterward Brune proceeded 
with the service. The grave was filled and a pine 
board was placed at the head, which probably soon 
disappeared from the action of the elements. This 
narration, so strictly accurate, indicates the condition 
existing at the time. 

Going down to Denver to arrange for my departure 
to the Central Parks, I was surprised to meet there 
t,wo friends of mine from Boston, Daland and Twing, 
who had arrived for the same purpose I had, and 
they readily agreed to accompany me on the proposed 
excursion. Supplying ourselves with horses and pro- 
visions and two assistants — one a good guide and hun- 
ter, and the other the unfledged millionaire I before 
referred to — we started off in good spirits. In three 



134 Reminiscences of 

days' travelling we arrived at the South Park, where 
we established a permanent camp. We found good 
himting and fishing, but the trout very very tame and 
dull on the line, though good eating. They had neither 
the beauty nor activity of the Eastern trout, and acted 
when hooked less gamy than Eastern chubs. These 
trout were so tame — and I generally found them so in 
Colorado — that little skill was required to catch them, 
and I have seen men on horseback following a stream 
and jerking out many trout with poles and baited 
hooks. I presume they are now educated up to a 
more critical standard. 

All fishermen who have fished over varied sections 
have doubtless observed how fish vary in their bold- 
ness or shyness. There are, of course, the particular 
fish who may have been hooked several times, and 
have become very shy and very difficult to catch ; but 
I refer to the general class of fish in streams and ponds 
or lakes as affected by frequency of fishing. There are 
many shades and degrees of shyness between the trout 
in waters which have not been fished and those which, 
for instance, are in the Thames and streams of Eng- 
land, where the greatest caution is required, and where 
the method of drawing the fly across the water, as 
pursued in this country, is of little avail, and where 
only the smallest kind of flies can succeed, and only 
where they are quite dry and can float with the current 
down-stream on the surface, in imitation of the deli- 
cate ephemera. Connected with the smallest thread 
of gut, they must the moment they are wet be ex- 
changed for perfectly dry ones. It surprises many 
Europeans to be informed that our largest trout can 
be taken successfully by a large No. 2 or No. 3 hook, 



A Sportsman 135 

with a spread of an inch, and drawn through the water 
a foot or two below the surface, and that trout will 
strike at such a fly several times in succession and 
often when pricked by an unsuccessful strike. 

The trout of the Rangeley Lakes are particularly 
gamy, and it is with some hesitancy that I say, for 
fear I may be discredited, that I have several times 
when trolling with fresh minnows caught trout which 
I have reeled up within twenty feet of the boat and 
lost off, and had them in plain sight seize again the 
mangled minnow and hook and be netted into the boat 
for their temerity. The salmon is very cautious in the 
fresh-water pools in taking the fly, and if unsuccessful 
in its strike will retire to its first place and take a rest 
before rising again. In the Pacific Ocean, when fol- 
lowing a trolling bait of fresh anchovy or sardine, it 
will exhibit great boldness and tenacity, comparatively 
fearless of the boat, and will strike savagely at the 
bait, and if not hooked at the first effort, but getting 
a portion of it, will hook on the remnant when often 
but a skin shred remains, and within ten or fifteen feet 
of the boat, plainly visible in the clear water, and sev- 
eral following will sometimes be observed in chase. 

In the Park we found game plentiful, antelope and 
deer especially. One morning we observed a mile off 
a large bear feeding in the tall grass in the open. The 
wind was favorable for our approach, and a projecting 
group of timber on our left reached out for a good 
station to fire from, and although our hunting guide, 
experienced with bear, was absent for supplies, we 
concluded to take in the bear ourselves if possible. 
We worked up through the timber, and when we ar- 
rived at the lower end of the wooded point we found 



136 Reminiscences of 

the passage was badly blocked by windfalls, which we 
had much difficulty in getting through, particularly 
at the point we wished to arrive at. 

We had to climb over lots of logs and branches 
and expected that the bear would take alarm, but 
when we came near the end of the point and could look 
out we saw our bear still feeding undisturbed. But 
such a monster we had never seen before, and he looked 
to be the size of an ox. I began to feel an apprehen- 
siveness I had not before, and I whispered to Daland 
and Twing, asking if they thought we had better go 
on in our purpose, considering the surroundings and 
the possibility of escape in case of wounding the bear 
if he should drive for us. I made a mental calculation 
in this wise : What is the bear worth to kill ? Perhaps 
a hundred or two hundred dollars. What is my life 
worth to me? More than several millions of worlds. 
I don't believe it is a reasonable proposition and I 
decline. Twing was inclined to risk it, but Daland 
thought as I did. We very cautiously returned the 
way we came. 

Our great bear hunt was over. Our hunter guide, 
when we related our experience to him, considered that 
it would have been very imprudent for us to have shot 
at the grizzly, and related the experience of a hunter 
friend of his who at this time was laid up in the North 
Park, whom they called "Old Kentuck," terribly bit up 
and mangled by a grizzly which came upon him after 
being wounded, and it was a question if he would 
recover. 

Mr. De la Vergne afterward related to me his ex- 
perience with a grizzly which he shot at from a repeat- 
ing rifle while out prospecting for mineral ores. The 



A Sportsman 137 

grizzly was not far off, coming leisurely toward him. 
Mr. De la Vergne crouched behind a large fallen log 
and, taking deliberate aim, fired at the bear's breast. 
No sooner had he fired than the bear, giving a savage 
growl, came for him, though not at full speed, as he 
was badly wounded, and received three more shots, 
dropping finally in a death struggle within twenty feet 
of Mr. De la Vergne. 

A man whom I afterwards employed named Saw- 
yer — more of a miner than a hunter, — ^while taking a 
mule pack of provisions over the range for me, was 
suddenly confronted by two large grizzly bears on the 
trail, whose sudden appearance stampeded his mule 
away from him, which went off at a galloping rate with 
its load of provisions and Sawyer's rifle, and the poor 
fellow had barely time to get up a tree before the two 
bears were on the ground below. They kept him up 
the tree for several hours, and he did not recover his 
mule until the following day. The mule, when found, 
had made his way to Breckenridge, the nearest settle- 
ment, eleven miles from the scene of the disturbance. 

Fortunately the grizzlies are not good tree-climbers, 
unless aided by low-down branches which they may 
seize and which are sufficiently strong to bear their 
weight. 



AFTER two weeks' stay in the Park, we crossed 
over the range to the headwaters of the Rio 
Colorado, in the vicinity of some gulch miners on the 
California and Georgia gulches, where they were tak- 
ing out some very good gold nuggets of fine gold. 



138 Reminiscences of 

I purchased some of the nuggets, one of which weighed 
a pound, for which I paid three hundred dollars, and 
altogether I bought nuggets to the value of two thou- 
sand dollars. It then occurred to me that I would 
make a collection of Colorado ores, which I did, build- 
ing up from the nuggets bought, and when I returned 
to Central City I employed several men to follow up 
the opened mines in Gilpin and several other counties, 
until I secured a large and representative collection 
from several hundred mines, which I afterward ex- 
hibited at the World's Fair in Paris in 1867. 

I also secured specimens from the few opened 
mines then shown up over the range, which from assays 
made at the Denver United States Mint I found to 
be distinctive from the ores about Central City, and 
more predominating in silver than gold, which induced 
a belief in my mind that the over-the-range mineral 
veins would ultimately make a record in the silver 
line, which was not then expected. In fact the gen- 
eral view existing at that time was that Colorado was 
wholly a gold-producing region, and that silver was an 
incidental feature of no particular importance. I was 
so much impressed with the value of the silver mines 
from the Denver assays that I wrote a small book on 
the subject, entitled Silver Mining Regions of Colorado, 
of between one hundred and two hundred pages, of 
which I had five thousand copies published by D. Van 
Nostrand & Co. of New York. This gave an account of 
the silver mines, with a general history of Colorado and 
its mining methods, and was the first work published 
on Colorado. This work, published in 1865, was se- 
verely criticised by the gold-mining region newspapers, 
and in some instances ridiculed as preposterous and 



A Sportsman 139 

one that could only have been indited by one of the 
tenderfoot order, ignorant of the real wealth of the 
State. 

The working of the silver mines at Leadville a few 
years afterward dispelled the gold monopolizing theory 
most effectually, as that region has yielded up to the 
present time a good deal more than a hundred millions 
of the white metal. 

As my work published in 1865 is out of print I will 
intrude some extracts in verification of the prophecy I 
then made: 

"The silver fields now discovered in Colorado, upon 
the western slope of the range, but a short distance 
from the gold belt of veins, are apparently in promi- 
nence and value beyond any known in the world, and 
the results that will be realized there within the next 
few years will constitute an epoch in the history of 
silver mining. Were it generally known to-day how 
rich and inviting the silver fields of Colorado are we 
should witness an attention and investment there more 
conspicuous than any exhibited before during the pres- 
ent age. An excitement of magnitude is inevitable 
and will come." 

"The wealth of the mines of Mexico is historic. 
We are informed by Humboldt in his Essai Politique 
that 'the yield of the Mexican mines since the con- 
quest to 1803 had been $2,027,952,000, all of which 
was produced from a few central spots, and the mining 
confined to a comparatively limited circle.' The reg- 
istered coinage of the Mint of Mexico, from the years 
1733 to i860, shows $1,741,573,107. 

"The following registered yields of a few Mexican 
mines may be interesting to the reader : 



I40 Reminiscences of 

Biscaina vein $ 16,341,600 

Santa Anita vein 21,347,210 

Valencia vein 31,813,486 

Rayas vein 85,421,014 

Veta Madre vein 225,935,736 

' ' The Pavellon vein when first opened was said to 
have produced $20,000 per day for five years, when a 
torrent of water from the mountains filled its shafts 
and swept away the improvements. It was opened 
again, and for the succeeding ten years yielded $60,000,- 
000. In 1696 it was once more abandoned and not 
opened again until 1787, when it was vigorously 
worked for eight months. The ore taken from it in 
that period yielded $11,500,000. The different mem- 
bers of the noted Fagoaga family are estimated to have 
received during fifty years' working of two veins over 
$16,000,000 in profits. 

"That the great mineral treasures of Mexico com- 
mence at the point where Humboldt rightly states the 
labors of the miners to have terminated, is conceded 
by those familiar with the country north and south 
and the natives themselves. We may be surprised 
when considering this fact, that such localities, known 
to be so much richer than the interior sections, should 
have been so long neglected. 

' ' The extreme northern mines of Durango and Chi- 
huahua have been proven as vastly richer than those 
of the interior. It is upon the records of Mexico that 
one Senor Zambrano, proprietor of two mines at San 
Dimas, Durango, paid as the king's fifth upon the 
silver raised from the two mines, from 1783 to 1807, 
the sum of $11,000,000. Nothing but the extreme 
richness of the ore could have paid the royalty of the 



A Sportsman 141 

King, and the heavy duties entailed by the distance of 
those mines from the Capital. 

"The Carmen vein, north of Durango, in the State 
of Chihuahua, among the mines of Batopilas, upon the 
western declivity of the Sierra Madre, has produced 
enormous yields of silver. From this vein three masses 
of pure malleable silver were taken, weighing collec- 
tively 870 pounds. 

"The mines of Santa Eulalia, in Chihuahua, are 
the most northern of any mines in the Mexican States 
which have been worked with any regularity, and 
proved by the richness of their ores the superiority of 
the northern mines of Mexico over those of the interior 
and southern part. The registered yield of the mines 
of Santa Eulalia from 1705 to 1737 was $55,959,750, 
or an average of $1,748,742 per annum; from 1737 to 
1 79 1 the yield exceeded $44,000,000, making a total 
for eighty-six years of $100,000,000. 

"This extreme northern district was abandoned in 
the year 1800 from its proximity to hostile Indian 
tribes, whose savage incursions could not be prevented 
by the mining population, who received no assistance 
from the Mexican Government, which was engaged 
in civil discord; and the flourishing haciendas for re- 
ducing metals, which were once in such a flourishing 
condition, are now a mass of ruins. Thus the tan- 
talizing wealth of the northern mines of Mexico and 
the rich tracts of Arizona and Colorado have remained 
undeveloped until the present day. 

"The report of Mr. Glennie, a very enterprising 
and intelligent English traveller, who made, in the 
years 1824 and 1825, a number of excursions over 
the northern Sierra Madre range, confirms the good 



142 Reminiscences of 

reputation these unsettled tracts have had in the 
estimation of those famiUar with the northern mines 
of Mexico. 

"A single instance of the result of an exploring ex- 
pedition by some Mexican buscones (searchers) into 
the regions of Arizona (contiguous to Colorado), in the 
commencement of the eighteenth century, will illus- 
trate the wealth of that region. Upon their return 
they brought most wonderful accounts of richness, and, 
in proof, 4033 pounds of pure silver, one mass of which 
alone weighed 108 arrobas, or 2700 pounds, the largest 
mass of pure silver ever found in the world. The fact 
is well substantiated by record. The claims of royalty 
to the King being disputed by the explorers, led to 
a long and vexatious suit resulting in a royal decree 
of Philip v., dated Aranjuez, May 28, 1741, which ter- 
minated a prosecution by the Royal Fiscal against the 
discoverers of Arizona, and gives the weights of the 
balls, sheets, and other pieces of silver discovered 
{bolas, planchas, y ostras piezas de plata). 

"The decree ends by declaring Arizona to be royal 
property as a 'Criadera de Plata' (a place in which, 
by some natural process, silver was created). In con- 
sequence an end to enterprise in that region occurred 
and it has remained until this day comparatively un- 
known and infested by hostile Indians. An attempt 
to found a colony there to work the mines upon royal 
account was made, which owing to want of support 
failed. 

"The following extract from the report to the 
English Government by H. G. Ward, Charg6 d' Affaires 
to Mexico for a number of years, may not be uninter- 
esting in view of the developments of the silver regions 



A Sportsman 143 

of Colorado. The report was published in the year 
1827 for the benefit of English capitalists who had 
invested largely in Mexican mines, and was the result 
of a long and critical examination of the mineral re- 
sources of the country. 

'"The hitherto unexplored regions in the north of 
Mexico contain mineral resources which, as discoverers 
proceed, are likely to make the future produce of the 
country infinitely exceed the amount that has been 
hitherto drawn from the comparatively poorer dis- 
tricts of the South.' The specimens which I have 
seen of the ores extracted from about 36° north lati- 
tude almost induce one to adopt the theory that the 
proportion of silver contained in the ores increases as 
you advance north, a theory which is generally be- 
lieved at present in Mexico, and which is certainly 
confirmed by the superiority of all the northern ores 
over the richest districts in the South. 

"The line of Mexico at that time extended along 
the Arkansas River to the 42 d parallel, which included 
the regions of New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado ; the 
line of Colorado commencing at 31° and ending with 
41° north." 

These were some of the arguments included in my 
published work of 1865, prior to the discovery of silver 
in Colorado. The results of mining in Colorado and 
Utah and regions beyond have fully verified the 
prophecies given in 1865 as to increasing mineral val- 
ues as mining has proceeded northward from Mexico. 

Over the Range, Mr. Tabor, aftei-ward Governor 
of Colorado, and briefly a United States Senator, was 
engaged in keeping a small station, where we pur- 
chased supplies. We were camped near a large body 



144 Reminiscences of 

of Ute Indians at peace with the whites, who were en- 
gaged in their usual Hfe of hunting, and whose primi- 
tive methods of hfe were interesting and amusing. 
They would come over to our place frequently in large 
groups, especially women and children and young 
braves, and would sit on the ground for hours watching 
our every movement, until it became so annoying that 
we removed our camp farther off. These Utes, with 
the exception of trifling small outbreaks, have always 
been at peace with the people of Colorado, and are 
now removed to a distant reservation. They never 
indicated any disposition to enter our camp, though 
they would get about as near as they could without 
getting in, and the intense interest with which they 
would watch our dressing, washing, and cooking was 
most amusing, and when one of us shaved they would 
pack the front of our humble abode so densely as to 
make it difficult to pass through them. Yet they 
never molested any of our articles, or opened our closed 
camp during our absence, although we did suspect that 
they had stolen two of our saddle-horses belonging to 
D aland and Twing, two white mustangs designated as 
General Grant and General Sherman. We informed the 
chief of our suspicions, and he admitted that he feared 
some of his young braves might have got away with 
them, which he very much regretted. 

All of our horses were stampeded one night, and we 
found in the morning that they were all gone from the 
place where they had been picketed, and half a dozen 
Ute braves volunteered to join us in search for them. 
The Indians were very efficient in trailing, and followed 
the horses to a burnt-over hillside, where the young 
grass had kept them at grazing — all but General Grant 



A Sportsman 145 

and General Sherman, who were nowhere to be found, 
though one of the braves claimed to have discovered 
their trail, taking a straight course for the town of 
Breckenridge, which we had passed through on our 
route over. We viewed the statement with some sus- 
picion, and were inclined to think he knew more about 
their disappearance than he might be willing to admit. 

A few pounds of sugar and a dozen cards of com- 
mon matches amply rewarded our assistants in the 
search, for sugar and especially matches were the usual 
articles mostly prized by the Utes, and they asked for 
these articles more than for anything else. A know- 
ledge of this demand led us to lay in a good stock of 
matches, and in a sudden burst of benevolence one of 
us would occasionally at camp go among the group of 
Indian visitors and gravely distribute two or three 
matches to each one. These would be received with 
many expressive grunts of gratitude, and the precious 
illuminators would be carefully wrapped up in strips 
of buckskin and stowed away. 

It will be related later on how we recovered Gen- 
erals Grant and Sherman afterward, at a distance of 
over one hundred and fifty miles from where we lost 
them, showing that any suspicions we had that the 
Utes had stolen them were groundless. The Ute In- 
dians, always peaceful with the whites, were perhaps 
more so than they otherwise would have been, but for 
their situation as mountain Indians inhabiting the 
parks and surroundings in Colorado. On the plains 
below were the Cheyennes and Arapahoes, always at 
war with the Utes, and on the other side of the Utes 
were various tribes of Indians hostile to them. If 
they had war with the Coloradians they saw that they 



146 Reminiscences of 

would be driven into the hands of their enemies. They 
could sustain themselves in their mountain regions 
against other tribes, and though they annually de- 
scended to the plains in the buffalo season, and had 
frequent conflicts with Cheyennes and Arapahoes, they 
could retreat to the foothills and hold them off. 
They were as superior in the hills, as the Cheyennes 
were on the plains. Frequent conflicts of this kind 
were witnessed in the early days by the white settlers, 
and one off the town of Denver was witnessed by the 
people there the year I arrived in Colorado. 

In 1879, when I arrived at Leadville — ^which then 
was the scene of a most remarkable excitement, arising 
from the discovery of the rich carbonate silver ores 
two years before — I was struck with the resemblance 
of the locality to that where we found our strayed 
horses fourteen years before, and upon mentioning it 
to Governor Tabor, he confirmed my impression that 
it was the identical tract, as he was a near resident at 
the time and noted the incident of our finding our 
horses on the burnt tract, and this my hunter-guide, 
Utter, whom I found at Leadville, also affirmed. The 
town was crowded beyond its capacity , and many were 
occupying tents and temporary shelters ; not very com- 
fortable, the latter, as it was midwinter, and at an 
altitude of nearly ten thousand feet above sea-level. 
Large sums were being taken from the mines quite 
near the surface, and the struggle for wealth reminded 
me of the old times at Oil Creek in 1865. I naturally 
thought of my early visit there, when such untold 
wealth lay beneath my feet, and when an acquired 
title of one hundred and sixty acres of land from the 
government would have had more than a value of 



A Sportsman i47 

$100,000,000. But I saw no evidence of the slumber- 
ing wealth when I was there, or mineral indications 
enough from which to obtain specimens for my collec- 
tion, though we did not look very attentively. 

The day after my arrival I saw a small tract fif- 
teen hundred feet long and six hundred feet wide, 
which has since yielded over $10,000,000 in silver. I 
purchased for some friends of mine a part of this tract 
one hundred and fifty feet in width for $300,000, 
which yielded a ton of silver per month for over two 
years. The silver ore found and worked primarily at 
Leadville was found in a blanket-spread form over and 
below the surface, instead of going down vertically as 
found in fissure veins, and was combined with a carbon- 
ate of lead This blanket deposit was pretty well worked 
out in a few years, and mixed with it, and below were 
large bodies of iron ore, worthless for silver, but with 
an admixture of manganese, making it valuable for 
flux in smelting, and especially valuable in the manu- 
facture of Bessemer steel, so that the anomalous con- 
dition of many of the silver mining companies was 
exhibited, after the exhaustion of their silver ores, as 
existing by furnishing material for steel rails. 

We made a third removal of our hunting camp over 
to a beautiful and grassy but limited valley on the 
headwaters of the Blue River, a tributary of the Rio 
Colorado, at the base of a precipitous and rocky moun- 
tain which we named Fletcher. This mountain, one of 
the most prominent of the continental range, towering 
up fifteen hundred feet from the little valley we occu- 
pied, was very difficult to ascend, and rather dangerous 
on account of loose rocks of mammoth size, which 
needed but little encouragement to go crashing down 



148 Reminiscences of 

to the valley below; and we amused ourselves when 
making the ascent by prying over rocks, which dis- 
lodged others, and at times made avalanches of large 
proportions, and when we reached the sharp, ridgy 
extending top it became a question which side we 
would create an avalanche upon from the tottering 
rocks thus easily dislodged — if we would give them 
to the Atlantic or Pacific side. 

This mountain, so precipitous and having no tim- 
ber, being at its base above the altitude where it would 
grow, had a good many small areas grassed over, and 
all these spaces indicated the visitations of bighorn 
mountain goats, which were plentiful compared with 
other localities we had visited. Inhabiting this 
mountain through the summer they would descend 
habitually to the small fertile valleys below for grazing, 
but at the least alarm would break for the heights, and 
could be watched going along the most precipitous 
passages with a celerity that was astonishing. We 
killed eight during our stay, and found them fairly good 
eating, excepting one or two old stagers which were 
rather strong for our taste. 

We got nearly all of the bighorns on the mountain- 
side, by spotting and cautiously approaching the small 
grassy areas when the wind was blowing strong from 
the opposite direction of approach, and frequently the 
odor arising from their resting-place would be the first 
intimation we would have of their near vicinity. One 
of the gulch miners at McNulty, some miles below us, 
had a tame one, captured when a kid, which was al- 
lowed to run about without its attempting to go away, 
and was rather offensively tame in its close hanging on. 



A Sportsman 149 

How these goats survive the severe storms and snows 
of winter I can not understand, but they necessarily 
must descend to the milder regions of the parks. Still, 
the mountains have many sheltered valleys where feed 
exists through the winters, and I have since noted at 
Cripple Creek, at nine thousand feet elevation, that 
domestic cattle feed out during most inclement winters. 

The view from Fletcher Mountain was of wondrous 
interest in its panoramic display of mountain ranges, 
exhibiting the small tributaries of the Rio Colorado 
and the Arkansas River. The many small rivulets 
in commencement seemed almost connecting, but sepa- 
rated in resulting termination, — originating together, 
one system to mingle in the briny waters of the Atlan- 
tic and the other in those of the Pacific. We found 
trout plentiful in all the streams of the same class as 
found in the parks, brownish with black spots, but no 
carmine coloring. 

We noticed some peculiarities arising from the high 
altitude we were at, when water boiled at so low tem- 
perature as to take from two to two hours and a half 
to boil our potatoes soft enough for eating ; ten minutes 
to boil an egg medium well done ; and beans one could 
not boil long enough all day to crack the skins for 
baking. Being scalded by boiling water was out of the 
question as understood at low altitudes. 

We all felt the difficulty in breathing incidental to 
the rarified atmosphere, and in ascending an elevation 
frequent stops were necessary. We found, however, 
some relief in this respect after some days of stay. Our 
horses were affected the same way, which necessitated 
much caution in using them freely. It is questionable 



150 Reminiscences of 

if any one born and habited to low altitudes can ever 
become as efficient in physical ability in extreme high 
elevations as if born there. 

In Ward's Mexico it is related that Englishmen 
there brought out greyhounds to course for the hare, 
plentiful on the elevated mesa lands The greyhounds 
were found inefficient, but the offspring bred there were 
found successful in the chase. 



AS elk did not abound in our locality we again 
moved our camp south about forty miles, to a 
small stream tributary to the Gunnison River, which 
in turn flowed into the Rio Colorado. Here we located 
near the Divide, where we found more game than we 
had yet seen in Colorado, — ^bear, both grizzly and cin- 
namon, bighorns, elk, and deer in abundance, and 
mountain lions. We had but little desire for bear 
meat, and were quite satisfied in witnessing the signs. 
We killed several elk and deer, and finally a moun- 
tain lion, after many miles of tramping, and having 
about given up the hunting, having no dogs suitable for 
following, as our three dogs were of a mongrel kind and 
untrained to such sport. They, however, one day in 
advance of us, surprised a lion at the remnants of a 
deer we had killed, which almost immediately treed, 
instead of making off as usual for rough and difficult 
grounds. A single shot brought the lion down mor- 
tally wounded, but with life enough left to very badly 
mutilate one of the dogs which too abruptly rushed 
upon him. He proved to be a very old one, and thin 
in flesh, but with a large, fine pelt, which we carried 
out with us in our collection of elk horns, bighorns, 



A Sportsman 151 

and deer skins, which required an extra pack-mule we 
had to purchase. 

It required one hundred and fifty miles of travelling 
to get back to Denver by way of the South Park over 
a very rough country, until we reached the plains. At 
Denver, where we rested for two weeks, I met two 
young men from Boston whom I knew, Abbott and 
West, and after exciting them with tales of our adven- 
tures, we planned together another excursion to visit 
the Middle Park over the Divide by way of the gold 
mines in Gilpin County. 

We found Denver being diminished in its popula- 
tion from the hard times existing. The known surface 
diggings were becoming exhausted, and no methods 
were known how to work the stubborn sulphurets be- 
neath. In the two years following Denver probably 
lost one third of its inhabitants, who by driving 
teams or on horseback, or by one way or another man- 
aged to get away from a region where they saw no 
means of livelihood. Real estate sunk to a low ebb, 
and many owners, from either want of funds or faith in 
future values, let their property taxes go unpaid. 

It was not until 1868 that the smelting process as 
pursued at Swansea in Wales was introduced, and 
from that period a growing prosperity occurred, and 
now the State surpasses any in the Union in its yield 
of precious metals, with agricultural products of still 
greater value. 

It was now midsummer when our party, increased 
to five, returned to the mining sections, resting for a 
few days. Supplying ourselves with pack-mules and 
two hunter gmdes, we essayed a route recommended to 
us over the Divide from Spanish Bar by Trail Creek, 



152 Reminiscences of 

which was ill-advised, and which we could not make 
owing to its roughness, with accumulated snow in the 
passes, although it was the first of July. We had ex- 
pected an additional guide familiar with the route who 
had a camp at the lower end of Trail Creek, but he had 
struck some rich surface pay ore on the Freeland Lode 
near by that was too attractive for him to leave, but 
would send up Dixie with us to the end of the creek near 
the Divide. We supposed he meant some companion 
of his, which he did, though it turned out to be a long- 
eared donkey, which he assvired us would most faith- 
fully take us through to the Divide if we would keep 
him ahead and not let him turn back, and we might 
let him return alone when we got through with him. 
This gave us a good deal of amusement, besides creat- 
ing a suspicion that we might find ourselves on some 
sort of a wild-goose hunt before we got through, which 
turned out to be the case. We were at the end of the 
settlement, and the expected man, Holland, could not 
or would not go, and we had no resource but the donkey. 
It was early in the day when we started on over a 
trail, which, distinct enough on the start, soon gave 
out entirely. We, however, kept Dixie on the lead 
despite his frequent evinced determination to go back. 
We had the rimning creek anyhow for a guide, and we 
could not lose that, though we had to cross it a great 
many times, and had to leave it often and go aroimd 
hills which were too precipitous to climb, or which met 
at the stream where no passage existed on either side. 
Our objective destination for the day was Chicago 
Lake, so called, near the summit, which was a pond 
about half a mile in width, and noted under the roman- 
tic name it had, as having been the locality at which 



A Sportsman 153 

Bierstadt had painted his celebrated picture called 
The Heart of the Rocky Mountains — a very striking 
and attractive picture of which there have been many- 
lithographs. 

At times in getting away some distance from the 
stream it looked as if Dixie was leading us wrong, 
but he brought us round all right, except in one 
instance, when he struck up a hill so steep that 
we had to dismount and hang on to the tails of our 
horses and mules to keep up with the procession. We 
felt sure he was wrong this time, but how to stop him 
was the question, as he kept on ahead, and we were 
too winded to overtake him. By calling a rest, how- 
ever, Dixie began to let up and nibble at the scant feed, 
and one of our guides finally got ahead and turned him 
back. We had taken the advice of Holland, which 
proved a good precaution, and loaded up Dixie with 
a pack to flatter him that he was of sufficient import- 
ance to belong to the excursion, which no doubt had a 
salutary effect upon him. 

It was near dark when we arrived at the lake, which 
was the head waters of Trail Creek, beautifully situated 
in a moderately opened valley, surrounded upon all 
sides but the one of approach by uprising, precipitous 
ledges of rocks. We were near the Divide, and had 
in our ascent risen over three thousand feet from 
Spanish Bar in going over a distance of twenty miles. 
Rising up ahead of us was a battlement of rocks sev- 
eral himdred feet in height, bare of timber and covered 
with snow. This constituted the dividing line of 
height between the Atlantic and Pacific, and was the 
pass we were to go over. From the pass on each side 
were rocky ridges rising hundreds of feet still higher. 



154 Reminiscences of 

The snow extended down from the summit to the 
shores of the lake, and as we remained here for several 
days we celebrated the 4th of July by efforts at snow- 
balling and coasting. The ice had gone out of the 
lake but a few days before. The last reaches of timber 
ended at the lake in small, scraggly diminutive pines, 
though in Bierstadt's picture large trees are shown, and 
an Indian encampment with peaked and picturesque 
wigwams. 

We did not arrive so late but that I could try the 
fishing, while the rest of our party prepared the rough 
shelter for the night and attended to other duties of 
high life. Somewhat to my surprise I found the trout 
plentiful, and soon had a school around me and secured 
a score, all averaging about the weight of half a poimd. 
They were very listless on the hook, with bellies full 
of ground and surface feed, bugs and ephemera, and I 
was surprised that in such condition they should take 
my bait of fresh meat so readily. Curious that trout 
should ascend so high, showing the wondrous adaptive- 
ness of this fish, which has no limit to its venture- 
someness if the cardinal virtues of aeration and low 
temperature are present. Yet this lake is hardly free 
of ice for more than three months in the year. 

Twing, who was a good deal of an epicure, claimed 
that he must cook these trout for supper himself, to 
insure their favorable condition for the satisfaction of 
a hunger which was keenly felt after our laborious 
day's work. Daland and I felt some misgivings at 
this declaration, as we had experienced some of Twing 's 
culinary efforts upon previous excursions. However, 
we let him go on, but when in our eager expectancy 
the trout were brought on, the dish was greeted with 



A Sportsman 155 

a cry of sorrow and disappointment that made Twing 
very imhappy. He had cut up the trout in squares 
like dice, and while frying them in the large camp 
saucepan over the open fire, the fat had ignited and 
before being extinguished gave a charcoal hue to 
the squares which was far from appetizing in appear- 
ance or taste. This led to a raillery on the subject 
which completed Twing 's discomfiture so much that 
he soon sought the retirement of his soft bed on the 
fragmentary sticks which were laid over the damp 
ground for resting upon. 

Our extemporized camp for the night, owing to the 
scarcity of material, was of a sparse character, better 
calculated on top for a survey of the skies than pro- 
tection in case of rain, but the night was clear though 
very cold, and our supply of dry wood was too limited 
to last satisfactorily through the night, compelling a 
forage for more toward morning. A little incident 
occurred which still further affected the situation. 

Twing, retiring earlier than the rest, commenced a 
nasal serenade of an amusing character, at which 
Daland, a persistent joker, tied a few of our emptied tin 
cans on the end of a stick and thrust them over Twing 's 
head from the rear of the camp. Jingling these tins 
at a merry rate soon aroused Twing who, tired and 
irritated at the intrusion, threatened to pull down the 
whole camp if he were disturbed again in the same 
manner. In a short time he was off again on the 
musical tour, and Daland applied again the counter- 
irritant. Twing was as good as his word and, rising 
in his might as Samson of old at the pillars of the 
temple, upheaved the supports and we were campless 
in a twinkling. It was little loss, however, and we 



156 Reminiscences of 

weathered out the night with none missing at the 
breakfast call. 

We sent off the men to look for a pass to get over 
the Divide, who returned in a few hours with the in- 
formation that there was too much snow to think of 
getting our animals over, as it was soft and honey- 
combed beyond any possibility of safe passage. Dur- 
ing the day we tried the fishing with success. All the 
trout were as full as they could be with ground feed, and 
and showed no fear at our approach. We had some 
cooked properly, but they were not high in the stan- 
dard of flavor. While Abbott was fishing along the lake 
shore some distance from me, my attention was at- 
tracted by his firing his pistol several times, and while 
watching him, saw that he was wading out in the water 
and firing at something on the rocky shore. I hastened 
toward him and saw half a dozen small animals on the 
shore by the water edge chattering at a great rate, but 
which scurried away among the rocks as I came up, 
and found that he had shot at and wounded one, which 
set up a cry of distress which brought out a number, 
whose threatening aspect compelled him to retreat 
into the water, when he continued firing at them, but 
without killing any, and was as I came up reloading his 
pistol with another round of cartridges. I did not 
see one closely enough to particularly examine, but the 
guides said they were mountain woodchucks, with 
which they corresponded in size and general appearance, 
but were not the animals of that name with which 
we are familiar and I noted they had tails ringed 
somewhat as a raccoon. We remained over three nights 
at the lake, but in a more comfortable camp than our 
first one. Dixie, who piloted us back to Spanish Bar, 
we kept tethered. 



A Sportsman 157 

After reaching the Bar we took up Fall River Creek 
on our way to Central, and met here one of those im- 
mense swarms of grasshoppers occasionally encount- 
ered in Colorado. The air was full of them, immense 
full-sized grasshoppers, near the earth and reaching 
up as high as we could see, so that in looking up 
they resembled a heavy passage of snowflakes. They 
were coming from an opposite direction and struck 
us so steadily that we had to cover our faces with 
our handkerchiefs. They were drowned in immense 
numbers in the waters of the stream, and swirled away 
in the currents by the barrelful. 

Amid this storm of grasshoppers we saw two white 
horses up the hillside, and Daland declared they were 
Generals Grant and Sherman whom we had lost when 
we were at the Ute Indian encampment in Summit 
County, and whom we suspected the Indians had stolen. 
A closer examination revealed that they were in real- 
ity the missing mustangs, and General Sherman was 
observed to have around his neck two feet of his 
old tether rope. They were fat and wild, but were 
secured with some labor, and their backs which were 
somewhat bruised and sore when lost were entirely 
healed. Here these two animals had found their way 
back over the mountains and streams more than one 
hundred and fifty miles from the present site of Lead- 
ville to the old grazing lands of Fall River, where they 
had originally been obtained from, showing the re- 
markable faculty which horses and some other animals 
have in finding their way back to familiar localities 
without compass or signs which mortals depend upon. 
I could relate many incidents of this character, 
of which similar ones are doubtless known to the 
reader. 



158 Reminiscences of 

We gave up our expedition to the North Park and 
I shortly after returned to Boston across the plains 
by stage, as I came out. When I left Boston for Col- 
orado, I had five thousand dollars in New York drafts 
given me by three friends, Oakes Ames, of Union 
Pacific Railroad celebrity, B. E. Bates, President of the 
Boston Bank of Commerce, and my friend, Peter 
Butler, to use in the purchase of Colorado mines at 
my discretion, and I was to have one half the results 
jointly with them. I brought back those drafts to 
them, and Mr. Ames remarked that it was the first 
money, ventured upon an understanding of similar im- 
port, which he ever had returned. 



IN the autumn of the same year (1865) I made an- 
other trip across the plains to Colorado and back. 
This time I proposed to go through the buffalo country 
by the Smoky River route, a hundred miles or more 
south of the stage line, and, having two friends who 
accompanied me, we bought at the Missouri River a 
stout pair of mules, with a wagon and saddle-horses, 
calculating to join a caravan of prairie schooners for 
protection, and to be a month or more on the road. 
In the wagon we carried bedding, provisions, and neces- 
sary articles. Our object in taking this route and 
going in this manner was to avail ourselves of buffalo 
and other hunting, of which we had abundance. From 
the Missouri River caravans were departing daily, and 
we had no difficulty in connecting ourselves with one. 



A Sportsman 159 

At this period, although the stage hne was pretty 
well protected from the attacks of Indians, the Smoky- 
River route was more dangerous, as the Indians were 
more or less about there hunting buffalo for their win- 
ter's supply of meat. This meat, cut in narrow strips 
and sun-dried, had good keeping quality for months 
if kept dry. All the teams as they came along were 
held up by government officials, who compelled an 
aggregation of at least one hundred men with each 
caravan before allowing a departure. Printed regula- 
tions were distributed requiring an organization among 
the men of each outfit, giving rules of proceedings for 
the election of officers and general management; how 
to establish picket guards in dangerous localities, and 
how to provide against attacks. These regulations 
were important and generally observed. 

We had not proceeded many days before we came 
into the buffalo range, and struck the flank of an im- 
mense herd proceeding northward, from which several 
were killed for use of the caravan. The following day 
we were in the midst of immense numbers stretched 
over the plains in all directions. A marvellous sight, 
one which would impress an observer with the belief 
that it would hardly be possible to have such numbers 
exterminated in the brief space of a few years. The 
building of the Union Pacific and the Kansas Pacific 
railroads sealed the doom of the btiffalo. With the 
invasion of thousands of hunters brought upon the 
buffalo grounds by these railroads, who sought no 
more than the skins of the slain as their reward, who 
found the buffalo defenceless, without shelter from 
attack, and of too slow and cumbrous action to escape, 
it is not surprising that they soon disappeared. 



i6o Reminiscences of 

The building of the Union Pacific Railroad settled 
the question of annual migration. It had been the 
habit for unknown centuries of the buffalo to annually 
migrate back and forth over an immense grazing field 
eighteen hundred miles in extent, from the fertile 
lands of Texas to the inclement regions of British Co- 
lumbia. Once their field of grazing extended from the 
Atlantic Coast to the heights of the Pacific Sierras, 
covering more than three quarters of the country, ex- 
cepting Alaska. The extension of settlements from the 
East gradually circumscribed their circuit, but nothing 
more sudden or deadly ever paused their feet or dis- 
tracted their sight than those glittering bands of end- 
less steel across their way. 

Even between the great arms of the Mississippi and 
Missouri rivers they long held sway, and seventy years 
ago, when Catlin, the Indian painter, rested at Fort 
Omaha — which George Francis Train some years ago 
said was the geographical centre of the Union from 
east to west, now removed to San Francisco by the out- 
stretching Aleutian Islands, — ^he said the buffalo were 
so plentiful that a band of Pawnee Indians, invited by 
the officers at Fort Omaha, went out and two days 
after brought in a thousand buffalo tongues for a 
barrel of whisky. This whisky, i. e. , alcohol, was prob- 
ably seven eighths water from the muddy Missouri, 
adapted with hot compounds by the kind considera- 
tion of the traders to the uncultured Indian taste. 
And yet, at one blow, the steel rail appearing, said to 
the stupid and uncomprehending buffalo, Stay, you 
cannot go around, and in a few years you and your 
kind of countless numbers, which have so long held the 
country in vantage, from before history began, shall 



A Sportsman i6i 

be exterminated. All but a few which your friend the 
white man shall exhibit in the circus fields or in wire- 
bound parks. 

In the buffalo was exhibited the most stupendous 
feature of large wild animal life ever shown upon the face 
of the globe, and in later ages it will appear almost 
incredible to the belief of the reader of history that a 
condition could have existed to have allowed so many 
millions of these huge animals to roam at will over 
the expanse of the greater part of the North American 
continent; that in modern days masses of buffalo 
containing from ten thousand to one hundred thou- 
sand could be viewed from a single standpoint; that 
days were consumed by travellers in patient waiting 
for more than a million of these magnificent animals 
to pass away before them; likewise to learn that in a 
brief space of a dozen years from such a condition, a 
practical extinction of these mammoth creatures oc- 
curred. It is a spectacle of grand, marvellous, and 
pathetic interest. 

Coincidental with the passing of the buffalo was 
that of the plains Indians. Stretching from the Missis- 
sippi River to the mountainous backbone of the con- 
tinent in our day were successive tribes of Indians 
which have all disappeared. Their very existence was 
woven in with that of the buffalo. The real great pro- 
tector of the Indians was the buffalo, which supplied 
food, raiment, and shelter. And with the passing of 
these two great elements of nature, what is left to 
show their existence? Nothing but a few rude Indian 
hieroglyphics on the face of rocks and a few mud wal- 
lowing pits of the buffalo. Even the bones of the 
buffalo are not in evidence, all gathered up in the eager 



1 62 Reminiscences of 

race for gain after the holocaust of destruction for the 
carbon works of Kansas, Nebraska, and Missouri. 

A competent authority has estimated that between 
the years 1868 and 1880, two and a half million dollars 
were paid out in the three States mentioned for buffalo 
bones gathered on the prairies at eight dollars per ton; 
and if the estimate of one hundred buffaloes to one ton 
of bones has been correctly calculated, it will be ob- 
served that the bones of over thirty millions of buffalo 
would be required to furnish the amount purchased. 

In 1870, the year the Kansas Pacific Railroad was 
completed from Kansas City to Denver, I took passage 
from Denver to Kansas City over this route, accom- 
panied by three friends, Edward E. Poor, P. Adams 
Ames, and Clarence Denny. We had been out to Cali- 
fornia, making a short visit there, and were on our 
way back to the East. We were attracted by the re- 
ports we heard about buffalo being scattered along the 
railroad route, which my friends were anxious to see, 
but little did we reckon upon the delay and the appre- 
hensions we were to experience. It was in the early 
part of April, and the heavy storms of the winter were 
over. There had been, however, some light flurries of 
snow and hail, and, although the plains were free and 
clear, the cuts through which the railroad passed were 
choked up to some extent with snow and sand, which 
had to be cleared out, and the forces at the intervening 
stations were light and inadequate for the work, so 
that we had constant delays over the route and were 
five days in making the passage, which on regular time 
now is made in thirty hours. 

Half-way across we came into large herds of buffalo, 
and in the distance we saw Indians pursuing and kill- 



A Sportsman 163 

ing them. The Sioux Indians, although they had been 
secured upon a northern reservation and were at com- 
pelled peace with the whites, had been permitted by 
the government to come upon the buffalo grounds to 
secure their customary and usual supplies of dried 
meat for the coming winter. 

Only a year before the Sioux, with the Chey- 
ennes, the Ogalallas, and half a dozen other tribes, 
who had banded together to prevent the building of 
the Kansas Pacific Railroad, and who, in 1867 ^^^ 
1868, swept away the habitations of the settlers and 
ruthlessly murdered men, women, and children indis- 
criminately, had been overcome by the government 
forces under Generals Sheridan, Custer, Sully, and For- 
syth, and been placed upon reservations, or at least all 
who could be gathered up, although remnants of the 
warlike bands were still loose for moderate forays. 
The various tribes, still smarting under the igno- 
miny of their defeat and feeling an irritation difficult to 
entirely conceal, were only restrained by fear of speedy 
punishment in case of transgression. 

We had not known of the government permit for 
the Indians to be let loose after the buffalo, or we 
should not have taken this route. We experienced 
an anxiety difficult to restrain, and as the straggling 
groups of Indians came an3rwhere near us, attracted 
by our train stalled at the face of a snow-filled cut, 
we prepared for a possible attack. There were but a 
handful, a dozen or so of passengers, but all men, and 
with half a dozen shovellers and the engineer, fireman, 
and brakemen we could muster a score. We had 
plenty of arms and ammunition, as each train sent out 
was well equipped by the company, which had fought 



1 64 Reminiscences of 

its way across the plains almost from the commence- 
ment of the building. The congregated tribes of In- 
dians had given out their ultimatum in 1867 that the 
railroad should not be built, but little did they com- 
prehend the untiring force of the paleface, which, 
however temporarily impeded, never ceased in its for- 
ward march. The twelve hundred men graded the 
track and laid the rails on the Kansas Pacific 
Railroad in less than two years. During the period 
of building, Colonel Cody ("Buffalo Bill"), under con- 
tract with the road, supplied the laboring force with 
buffalo meat, and with his aids killed over five 
thousand head. 

For two days we had buffalo all about us, and at 
times it would appear as if they would compel the 
stoppage of our train. On one occasion a bunch of 
several hundred galloped on the track ahead of the 
train for half an hour, despite the whistling of our 
engine, and others galloped abreast of the train for 
miles within easy killing distances. 

Some days before our passage a west-bound train 
between Forts Harker and Hays was compelled to lay 
by for five hours to allow the buffalo to pass. The 
buffalo in passing repeatedly endeavored to go be- 
tween the linked cars of the train, and our Pullman 
car, which was a part of the blocked train, had two of 
its steps, broken down by the weight of straggling buf- 
faloes, still unrepaired. 

While several small groups of Indians engaged with 
buffalo came within something less than a mile of us, 
which put us on guard for a possible attack, they did 
not indicate a disposition to visit us. It had been 
resolved not to allow any close approach or familiar 



A Sportsman 165 

mingling with the savages, but to warn them off if 
they came within danger hmits, but an exception was 
made on the third day, when we had our greatest delay 
and our heaviest work in clearing the cuts, at the ap- 
proach of three mounted Indians, who came at a mod- 
erate pace toward us with extended open hands in 
token of peace. One, who spoke a little English, ex- 
plained to us that one of the party, a chief, would 
accompany us until the next day through the buffalo 
country where so many Indians were engaged, to pro- 
tect us from any possible attack from young bucks, 
who might break away from the peaceful promises 
given by the tribes to the government, explaining that 
all the Indians were not favorable to the surrender and 
consequent removal of the tribes from the plains to the 
government reservations, and that the chief would go 
with us for our protection against any possible foray. 
While this confirmed the feeling we had, that our 
apprehensions of trouble with the Indians were not 
groundless, it gave us a confidence which had been 
failing as to our safety. We therefore accepted this 
hostage of security with satisfaction, much relieved 
from the anxiety we had experienced. We endeav- 
ored to make the old chief as comfortable as possible 
although he declined all our advances and proffers of 
friendship, and sat almost motionless looking out of 
the car window as the train proceeded. We did not 
deem it expedient to offer him fire-water, but he 
deigned without the slightest acknowledgment to ac- 
cept a handful of cigars and a box of matches, and did a 
moderate amount of smoking. At the station, hewre 
we all got out for supper, a while after dark, he indi- 
cated a desire to leave us and take the next train back, 



1 66 Reminiscences of 

and descended from the car, pointing back in the direc- 
tion we came from, but the station agent to whom he 
appealed held a parley with him, and managed to con- 
vince him of the necessity of his going on farther, ex- 
plaining to us that this personal accompaniment of 
Indians on each train had been arranged for between 
the big chiefs and the railroad for the period when the 
buffalo hunts should be along the route. As the buf- 
falo were proceeding north, the present condition 
would last but a few days longer. 

Although a bed had been made up in our car for 
our dusky companion for the night, he declined to 
occupy it, and sat stolidly by the car window all night- 
The following morning, beyond the buffalo range, our 
Indian left us at a station, where he joined a west- 
bound train, consenting to take from us a moderate 
purse we made up for him. 



WHAT a singular spectacle was presented by our 
train in the last act of the drama of buffalo 
and Indians, in the last change in the transition of the 
plains from wild buffalo range and barbarism to peace- 
ful settlement and civilization. 

But the evolution of the buffalo and Indian is no 
more striking than that of the great Western country 
which has exhibited such wondrous change. 

Ward, the Minister to Mexico from England, upon 
the establishment of the new government independ- 
ent of the dominion of Spain, a most sagacious and 
conservative author, whose work to-day — published 
in 1827 — is a standard one upon Mexico, said in the 
preface of his work: 



A Sportsman 167 

"The great interior unexplored region lying north 
of the Mexican States will remain for centuries practi- 
cally unknown to civilization, and will present to the 
world the spectacle of the last stronghold of savagery 
and barbarism to be found upon the face of the earth." 

This prophecy was given some eighty years ago — 
not so long but living men can remember the period. 
But how great was the error of Ward, and how 
little he appreciated the bold and advancing spirit 
of man, stimulated as it was to be by the wonder- 
ful progressiveness of new agencies. How aston- 
ished he would have been, could he have but seen 
a slight reflection of the present condition through 
the region which he then accounted as hopelessly 
given up to desolation for centuries. 

Then the population of the United States was less 
than one sixth of the present amount, and the settle- 
ments of the country had but commenced to creep 
away from the Eastern States. Not until a decade 
after did the first steamer struggle across the briny 
waves of the Atlantic, and the first locomotive had 
just been built. Steam in its application to mechanics 
had hardly been dreamed of, and the first principles 
of electricity had hardly been conceived. A belief 
then in the possibilities of ten billions of dollars of 
investment in the railroads existing in this country at 
the present day would have been as preposterous as 
the opinion now that one hundred thousand millions of 
dollars may be invested in electrical applications in a 
century from this date, and the latter opinion will find 
more believers now than the first proposition could 
have had then. 

Cheap printing and telegraphy, and the general 



i68 Reminiscences of 

diffusion of information by printing and electricity 
throughout the world as soon as it is obtained, and 
cheap transportation are leavening up the whole world. 
Invention, advance, and intelligence are being stimu- 
lated as never before, and the progress of arts, science, 
and general information is more rapid than could have 
been dreamed of by the optimist of half a century ago. 

On my second trip by team across the plains with 
my two companions in 1865 we were so beset with buf- 
falo that an apprehensiveness existed among the riders 
and drivers that our stock might be stampeded, as it 
indicated a tendency in that direction, and at noon it 
was thought best to hold up for the day and let the 
buffalo pass, as we had to make a ford over a consider- 
able width of shallow water and sand, over which 
biiffalo were plentifully scattered about. Besides, we 
had to get grazing for the cattle and horses, which had 
scant feed the day before. So selecting a spot not far 
from the river, where feed was plentiful, a large corral 
was made of the wagons, in which the stock was en- 
closed. This corral was drawn close at night, as 
before. A number went out for buffalo, and I re- 
gret to say that a good many more were killed than 
could be economically consumed. One hunter claimed 
to have killed a group of five without moving from 
his position. Of these, only the tongues and small 
parts were taken. 

The general method followed on the plains in 
killing buffalo was that of the Indians, to ride on a 
fast horse alongside the flank of the retreating buffaloes, 
firing at them back of the shoulder for a vital spot. 
Without waiting for the result the hunter proceeded on, 
engaging with others in a similar manner, and would. 



A Sportsman 169 

under fortunate circumstances, slay a number before 
returning to skin and cut up those first killed. The In- 
dians with their arrows would do great execution if well 
mounted, and in some instances would send an arrow 
clear through a buffalo. Much depended upon the speed 
and management of the mustangs employed, some of 
which acquired a singular skill and intelligence in 
pursuing the buffalo, and would in a short time so 
direct themselves as to require no guidance. 

A remarkable instance of this character, well 
authenticated, occurred in the presence of several army 
officers near Fort Hays, in 1868, where Colonel Cody 
("Buffalo Bill") exhibited his unequalled skill in horse- 
manship and shooting accuracy. Buffalo were about, 
and a few officers freshly arrived at the Fort started 
out in conquest. Buffalo Bill, observing a group of 
eleven buffalo not far off, hastily mounted his famous 
steed Brigham. Not finding his saddle and bridle 
convenient, he seized an old bridle and blinders, and 
bareback started out, overtaking the well-mounted 
officers, who made some facetious remarks at his 
presence. He volunteered some advice to the officers 
regarding the route the buffaloes were taking, and the 
policy of cutting across in a particular direction which 
the buffalo, then running, would take. To this the 
officers gave no attention, and Buffalo Bill, hastily 
throwing off his bridle, started, bareback and bridle- 
less, in the direction he had indicated. The officers, 
giving speed directly for the buffaloes, soon rounded 
them in the direction indicated by Buffalo Bill. The 
latter, having the advantage of the cut-off, was soon 
in advance alongside the bounding buffalo, which his 
obedient and trained Brigham pressed closely in 



I70 Reminiscences of 

repetition of the manner so often followed in previous 
encounters. Buffalo Bill, before being overtaken by 
the officers, killed the whole eleven in twelve shots, 
only one buffalo, the last one, requiring a second shot. 
The officers, reining up at the fall of the buffaloes which 
had occurred in so brief a period, were doubly aston- 
ished to learn the name of their famous associate. 

The dense stupidity of the buffalo largely aided 
in his destruction. Skilful in protecting its young 
and running mates from the attacks of wolves, and 
even the grizzly bear and mountain lion, he never 
seemed to acquire either a knowledge or a fear of the 
death-dealing rifle, and many groups of a dozen or 
more would often allow themselves to be shot down 
one after another by a concealed hunter, without 
moving from their tracks. During the death-dealing 
periods after the building of the Kansas Pacific Rail- 
road, there were hunters who boasted of having killed 
from fifty to seventy-five buffaloes in a day. The 
greater part of these killings was solely for the hides, 
netting often not more than from one to three dollars 
each. 

The exodus of buffalo north, through Kansas, in 
1868, while the Kansas Pacific Railroad was build- 
ing, was of enormous proportions. Col. Henry In- 
man, who was with Generals Sheridan and Custer 
and a large military force there, relates that they 
were compelled to lay by with their whole force for 
three days for the immense swaying mass of buffalo 
to pass by, and were compelled to exercise the precau- 
tion of corralling all their cattle and horses to prevent 
their being stampeded and lost, and that large num- 
bers of horses, mules, and cattle were lost, and never 



A Sportsman 171 

recovered, by the settlers and caravans crossing the 
plains. Colonel Inman, from a consensus of opinion 
formed by the officers, estimated that from three to five 
millions of buffalo were contained in the moving masses 
which passed north at that period. 

The only other parallel case that I am aware of 
where a large body of animals has held an extensive 
region in monopoly is that of the kangaroo in Aus- 
tralia, which, sharing the fate of the buifalo, is found 
now only in small numbers in the unsettled parts of 
the island, being wholly unknown now in its old 
haunts. When Captain Cook, in his notable first voy- 
age to Australia in 1770, brought back knowledge of 
the kangaroo to the notice of the world, it abounded in 
many millions over the arable areas of the island con- 
tinent. They were then as tame as domestic cattle, 
and a long time after sheep were introduced grazed 
with them in pleasant companionship. But the sheep 
men soon found that they restricted the feed, and as 
the sheep increased, large drives were made of the 
kangaroos into stockaded pens with extended wings 
after the manner now followed in Southern California 
for capturing jack-rabbits, and when taking in a sweep 
of twenty -five square miles, it was not unusual to 
capture from three to five thousand kangaroos at a 
single swoop. Then, the gates being closed, the old 
male kangaroos being shot as dangerous, the balance 
were beaten to death with clubs, and after the re- 
moval of their skins were left to waste upon the ground. 

It is now estimated that eighty millions of sheep 
are grazed in Australia, and that if the kangaroos were 
now existing, as originally, not more than ten or fif- 
teen million sheep could be carried along. 



172 Reminiscences of 

But another animal plague has come in Australia, 
since the disappearance of the kangaroo, that of the 
little cotton-tail rabbit, unfortunately introduced by 
an experimental mistake. These rabbits have mul- 
tiplied so immensely as to become a serious men- 
ace to the sheep industry, and are now estimated 
to consume the feed of twenty millions of sheep. 
Large sums have been offered by the authorities 
for any remedy which would destroy them, but 
without avail. Although the same rabbits exist 
in California, they are comparatively scarce, and 
it has been a wonderment to me why they have 
not increased. Possibly the coyotes and small vermin 
destroy them. In Australia they have the dingos or 
native wild dogs, and the Wallaby bandicoots, native 
cats, in abundance, but they do not seem to have any 
appreciable effect on the rabbits. 

In the morning we found that the great body of 
buffalo had passed on north, and we saw only a few 
scattered groups during the day. We had had enough 
killing to satisfy us, and having seen all the buffalo 
we desired, besides antelope and small game, con- 
cluded to join another caravan that preceded us, 
which, being headed for Utah, diverted from the route 
our caravan was passing for the Platte River to follow 
the stage road from Julesburg, which place we reached 
in a few days. There we concluded to dispose of our 
mule team and horses, and take the stage for Denver. 
I remained in Colorado a few months, after which I 
returned by stage to the Missouri River, and by rail- 
road to Boston. 



A Sportsman 173 

IN the summer of the following year, 1866, I again 
^ returned to Colorado, having acquired some inter- 
ests there, and gave attention to the further collection 
of ores, of which I already had secured an extensive 
cabinet. An agitation was occurring on the subject 
of having an exhibition of Colorado ores at the great 
World's Exposition to be held at Paris, in 1867, and 
three commissioners had been appointed by the Ter- 
ritorial Legislature to take charge of the ores and 
represent them there. The funds in the Territory 
were scant, and, no appropriation being made, it was 
necessary that the amount required should be raised 
by public subscription. This lagged, and it seemed 
hopeless to expect the amount could be raised. 

The intention was to take advantage of my collec- 
tion, as I notified the Governor that the collection was 
at his disposal, though I did not care to be added to 
the number of commissioners already appointed, but 
in case the amount to be subscribed should not be 
obtained, I was willing if appointed as sole com- 
missioner to go forward and make the exhibition at 
my personal expense. To this I received no answer 
but shortly after returning to Boston, and to my sur- 
prise, a few weeks after my return, I received a letter 
from the Governor, enclosing a commission from 
United States Secretary of State William H. Seward, 
appointing me as sole commissioner to represent 
Colorado at the Paris Exposition. I had all my collec- 
tion immediately forwarded to New York, across the 
plains, including all the maps extant, many of which I 
especially prepared, as well as a large number of photo- 
graphs. These were shipped by one of the French 
steamers directly to Havre and Paris in the following 



174 Reminiscences of 

spring, which I followed in due season. It was my 
first trip abroad, and my sensations when I arrived in 
Paris in the evening hour were of an exciting character. 

As I was carried through the principal boulevards, 
so brilliantly illuminated, to the Grand Hotel, the 
lively and glittering presentation exceeded my ex- 
pectations, and it seemed as if I had reached a new 
land of enchantment. The exposition buildings were 
already completed, and many of the departments were 
already occupied. 

The main building of exhibition, situated on the 
large open space on the Field of Mars across the 
Seine from the main part of the city, was oval in form 
anh over a mile in circumference. The structure was 
of iron and glass, surrounded by annexes for machinery, 
agricultural implements, minerals, and various heavy 
articles. It was intended by the Emperor Napoleon 
and the French Government to have this world's 
exhibition surpass any ever before given, and it most 
certainly did. Napoleon was then in the zenith of his 
power and France in the height of prosperity. 

The American commissioners, a large number, 
were already there, but the American department 
was entirely unoccupied. A large number of Ameri- 
can exhibitors were there, chafing under the delay in 
having their various quarters assigned. N. M. Beck- 
with was the United States Commissioner General 
and Sam'l B. Ruggles, of New York, was the second 
in rank following the chief. Mr. Beckwith had lived 
with his family in Paris for many years, and pri- 
marily in India, from which he had retired with a 
large fortune. He was a man of singular indecision, 
lacking executive ability. In vain the exhibitors ap- 



A Sportsman 175 

pealed to him to have their various places assigned. 
Time was rapidly passing, and the exposition was 
soon to be opened, while the American department 
was dormant and lifeless, and would apparently be 
behind all others. Several meetings of the exhibitors 
were held and special committees were appointed 
to confer with Mr. Beckwith. He promised to act, 
and, visiting the space assigned to the United States, 
would mull over it day after day, seemingly con- 
fused by the earnest solicitations of the exhibitors. 
The more he was implored the more he was con- 
fused, and finally lapsed into a most incomprehen- 
sible stupor when he was approached. Day by day 
passed away and no decision. In fact, he had been 
so long in idle life, and without cause for action, that 
he seemed approaching imbecility. He was, how- 
ever, sensitive and irritable if the slightest reflection 
was intimated as to his action. The committee 
received no satisfaction, excepting in promises which 
were empty. He had failed to select officers to pass 
upon the assignments until the crowding applications 
completely overwhelmed him. I was finally appointed 
upon a committee to urge his action, and straightway 
made my appearance before him with my associates. 
We found him pleasant and affable, and quietly stated 
our mission. This seemed to throw him into a stupor 
of indecision, and, clasping his hands on each side of his 
head, with elbows on the table, he fairly groaned with 
perplexity. Finally he said, "I will attend to it." I 
pitied him, but the necessity was urgent. I then said: 
"General Beckwith, if the exhibitors' positions are 
not assigned within twenty-four hours, I shall move 
for the exhibitors to act in sending a cable to the 



176 Reminiscences of 

President of the United States, asking for your 
removal and the appointment of another in your 
place." 

This was a stunner, and the General arose, saying: 

"My God! What do they want? What more can 
I do?" 

I rejoined, "Let them go and take their places." 

"Let them," said the General; "let them go and 
take their places. Will that satisfy them?" 

"Certainly it will," I rejoined, "and that is all 
they can desire." 

Upon this we made our adieus, thanking the Gen- 
eral for his consideration. 

As rapidly as a cab could drive us, we hurried 
back to the general meeting room, which was my 
salon at the Grand, I having freely tendered it to the 
exhibitors and commissioners in the absence of any 
other provided place of meeting at that time. 

We circulated the information as rapidly as we 
could to all interested, and it was great news for 
the exhibitors. It was a life scramble for place and 
there was great hurrying to and fro. 

I was fully prepared, having completed all my 
cases and shelving of more than a thousand feet 
with plate-glass fronts and proper adornments. I 
had a valuable assistant, a Parisian whom I had em- 
ployed to constantly guard my collection. I soon 
had twenty workmen at double pay on the swing 
for all-night work in placing my shelving, hanging 
maps, and spreading my ores, and by 10 o'clock in 
the morning I had everything in place, and my as- 
sistants were just distributing a plentiful supply of 
fresh flowers over the top railings, when General 



A Sportsman 177 

Beckwith made his appearance. His attitude was 
belligerent and he strode toward me, saying : 

"Why, what is this? You can't stay here! This 
is the centre reserved for pianos, paintings, and works 
of art. All the minerals will have to go into the 
annex, where the machinery and minerals are all to 
go, etc." 

I mildly informed him of his assent that the ex- 
hibitors were to select their places, and was not the 
Colorado exhibit as displayed one of the first to be in 
place, and worthy of the position, and having brought 
the collection so far over a long distance, would it not 
be best to leave it as established. But he would have 
nothing of it and left with much indignation, for I had 
selected the very centre of the American department, 
with a liberal extension of some forty feet on each side 
of an angle, and had the front floor well held down by a 
few tons of mineral masses, coal, ingots of silver and 
copper, and other products of similar character. Suf- 
fice to say that the Colorado exhibit remained through- 
out the exhibition in this place. 

General Dix was then our Minister to France. 
Paris was very gay with its large influx of foreign 
visitors, and the American delegation was largely 
represented. At least it seemed very gay and attrac- 
tive to me, so much so that I found it very difficult ta 
do much sober work. 

I published fifteen thousand substantial pamphlets 
on Colorado, one third of each in English, French, 
and German, all illustrated with a map of the United 
States and of Colorado, with a list of the ores ex- 
hibited, and a general description of the products of 
the Territory and its history. 



178 Reminiscences of 

I stupidly left the material of this work to be 
written when I should arrive in Paris, having the 
matter in rough outline. I shall never forget the 
difficulty I experienced in preparing this work. It 
seemed impossible to get at it. Of course, I had 
little time after my arrival to do it. I would wait 
until I had my collection placed, but then I had no 
time to spare. I was out every night. General Dix 
was giving weekly receptions. The American resi- 
dents were giving nightly dinners, dances, and balls. 
Theatres and operas and official entertainments to 
which the commissioners were invited occupied much 
of my time, which necessitated daily visits to the 
exposition. 

With associates similar in disposition to my own, 
our time was given to restaurants, drives on the 
Bois, and the races; out every night until the small 
hours, and sometimes accompanied home by the 
dawning light, for light comes early in Paris in the 
summer months. 

How I struggled to complete my pamphlet of 
a himdred pages on far-off Colorado. I never con- 
sult that old work without smiling at the sentence 
which I read over a dozen times or more, and was 
unable to get beyond it. Describing Denver, pleas- 
antly situated on Cherry Creek: "Rising evenly 
beyond are higher hills, girt with walls of rock shoot- 
ing up perpendicularly for himdreds of feet, seeming 
like embattlements ready to belch forth the crashing 
weight of iron upon the vales below. Succeeding are 
ranges of mountains piling in upon each other imtil 
they culminate in white peaks at an altitude of from 
14,000 to 16,000 feet above tide water. These are the 



A Sportsman 179 

beacon lights of welcome to the weary traveller on 
the plains, long before he refreshes himself at the 
sparkling streams of the foothills which they supply." 

There I paused to drink water and listen for the 
echo and reverberations of the battlement artillery. 
Day after day I would read it over, but could get 
no farther, and finally had to get Harry Furbush to 
start it on for me. By the way, he had a very attrac- 
tive, sprightly sister, quite a belle in Paris at the time. 
I met her a few years ago. She was living in Rhode 
Island with her family of nine children. How time 
has flown since 1867. It seems only a few years ago. 
I should be very glad to live it over again. 

A very simple friend was Dunlap, from Peoria, 
111. One day I dined with him and two others at 
the Diner de Paris — five francs, including a full bottle 
of common Bordeaux. One could, at the same price, 
change the quart of wine off for a pint of superior 
quality. When the four bottles of wine were put on 
the table we concluded one would do for all of us, and 
I said to the waiter: ''Take off this wine and boil it 
down to one bottle," and he soon returned with it. 

The next day I met Dunlap at the exposition, and 
when about to leave him he said : "I have been think- 
ing what a wonderful people these French are. But 
I want to ask you how that waiter at dinner last 
night could boil down those four bottles of wine into 
one in five minutes and have it come so cold." 

The display of minerals at the exposition was 
very extensive and interesting, all of which, except 
that of Colorado, were relegated to the various an- 
nexes, and when the award of prizes was made I 
had the satisfaction of receiving the gold medal of 



i8o Reminiscences of 

the first class. This was a large medal intrinsically 
worth fifty dollars. Upon one side was the raised 
bust of the Emperor Napoleon and the words, "Ex- 
position Universelle Frangais, 1867," and upon the 
other my name and award for exhibition of Colorado 
ores. In addition to the award was a recommenda- 
tion of the International Jury of special recognition 
for the exhibit in its completeness, which had been 
conveyed from such a distant region. This recom- 
mendation of the jury to the Emperor, which was 
made in a few exceptional cases, occasioned an addi- 
tional expression of high consideration, which I 
received from the hands of the Emperor at the dis- 
tribution of recompenses at the Palace of Industry 
on July I, 1867. 

France at the period of the exposition was at its 
height of prosperity, and Napoleon the Third at the 
zenith of his power and influence. 

The Emperor had designed the occasion of the 
distribution of the exposition awards to be one of 
unequalled grandeur and effect. The scene occurred 
at the Palace of Industry on the Avenue des 
Champ Elys6es, midway from the Tuileries to the 
Bois de Bologne. 

This Palace of Industry, of iron and glass, was of 
stupendous capacity, capable of seating thirty thou- 
sand spectators about a central area of large extent. 
In this area were erected half a dozen large groups 
representing the various industries, leaving large 
spaces intervening with a wide promenade aroimd 
the whole. On one side, centrally located, was a 
raised dais or platform from the floor of moderate 
height, and two hundred feet in length, reached by 



A Sportsman 



i8i 



four or five steps, the whole covered with a crim- 
son carpet. In the rear of the platform was an im- 
mense extending canopy with the Imperial coat of 
arms, and htmg with Gobelin tapestry. This was 
the dais designed and occupied by the principal 
monarchs of Europe or their representatives gathered 
by the Emperor to give eclat to the recognition of 
merit. This presented probably the most distin- 
guished exhibition of royalty ever assembled. Cen- 
trally seated were Napoleon and the Empress Eugenie, 
and adjoining the American Ambassador, the Czar 
of Russia, the Kings of Prussia, Austria, Denmark, 
Sweden, Belgium, Spain, and other monarchies, the 
Prince of Wales, the Shah of Persia, the Sultan of 
Turkey, Bismarck, and other most prominent European 
celebrities. The gardens and conservatories of Paris and 
environs were denuded of flowers to grace the event. 

The great musical composition of Rosini to the 
French people was rendered by a choir of twelve 
hundred girls in white, with salvos of artillery ap- 
propriately timed from the distant Champ des Mars. 

Forty thousand troops of the French army lined 
both sides of the avenue from the Palace of the Tuil- 
eries to that of the Industry, presenting arms on the 
passage of the royal cortege from the former to the 
latter. 

The exhibiting recipients of first prizes, and espe- 
cially recompenses, by notice given, were gathered in 
full dress, at a central position in front of the royal 
assemblage. The opening was declared by the Em- 
peror Napoleon, who advanced to the front and read 
in a clear and comparatively sonorous voice the few 
words of opening. This was followed by the French 



1 82 Reminiscences of 

Minister of State, M. Rouher, who made a somewhat 
lengthy address of welcome and illustration of the 
exposition. The names of those receiving the first 
gold medal and decorations were then called singly in 
sequence, and as each name was given the fortunate 
exhibitor advanced forth from the group to the plat- 
form and ascended the few steps to the royal presence 
and received either from the Emperor or the Empress 
personally the award. 

Despite the august assemblage, all went on pleas- 
antly without delays, and with entire absence of 
formalities or embarrassment, as democratic as one 
could desire. Many nods and words of recognition 
were given by the Emperor and Empress as famil- 
iar faces appeared, and much applause came from 
the audience as well-known figures advanced to the 
platform. 

It was slightly amusing at times to witness the 
missing back step of some of our confreres in retreat- 
ing from the royal presence, but every incident of this 
kind was received in the utmost good-nature with 
friendly smiles. 

The awards of silver medals only to the rich 
regions of California and Nevada, which had pro- 
duced hundreds of millions in value, while Colorado 
had hardly commenced a production, was expressed 
in much disappointment by the Pacific press. One 
CaHfomia paper designated Colorado as occupying 
an unknown isolated peak of the Rocky Mountains, 
but its boundaries are now established and well known, 
and it is the banner State in the Union in its produc- 
tion of the precious metals. 

The exhibits from the Pacific mining regions were 



A Sportsman 183 

limited in extent, and lacking in classification and 
descriptions, which accounted largely for the slight 
recognition received at the exposition, quite unworthy 
of those superior and extraordinary regions whose 
products occasioned an epoch in the monetary con- 
ditions of the world. 



NOT long after the prize awards at Paris I was in- 
formed by my assistant at the exposition in the 
afternoon of my visit that the Emperor, in the fore- 
noon, had personally made a prolonged examination 
of the Colorado ores, accompanied by Mr. Ruggles, 
our American Vice -Commissioner-General, and this was 
afterwards confirmed by Mr. Ruggles, who also informed 
me that the Emperor had requested him to have the 
Colorado Commissioner visit him at the Tuileries, to 
whom he would give an audience. 

Mr. S. B. Ruggles, the Vice-Commissioner-General 
to the exposition, was a most capable man of broad 
and comprehensive views, and the latter part of his 
life was given in exertions for a general international 
acceptance of universal standards of coinage, weights, 
and measures, which undoubtedly will have to come 
some day, though the conditions may not be ripe yet 
for acceptance. He told me he was present at the 
first opening of the Erie Canal. 

We had rooms together at the Grand Hotel, two 
bedrooms and a mutual salon. Despite his age (a 
little over eighty) he was a regular student, and upon 
arriving in Paris commenced the study of the French 
language, and it was amusing to see him up early in 
the morning in his dressing-gown, with his head as 



i84 Reminiscences of 

bare as a billiard ball, without the fine flowing wig he 
wore when dressed, intently studying his child's French 
primer book, spelling out the simple words of cat, dog, 
rat, apple, and sundry other simple words as illustrated 
above the spelling. But he made slow headway and 
was much disgusted with his inability to talk and un- 
derstand French. But it indicated his disposition for 
work and his activity of mind, which advancing age 
had not impaired. 

He accompanied me to the interview with the 
Emperor at the Tuileries, where we received a pleasant 
reception, quite free from any formality. I had pre- 
viously had bound up my three exposition works in 
English, French, and German on large paper, with 
maps of the United States and Colorado, and a photo- 
graph of the Colorado exhibit. This book I had bound 
in elegant form at the Emperor's bookbindery, where 
all books added to his library were rebound in pale 
green morocco, embossed on the front with the Im- 
perial coat-of-arms. This book I presented to the 
Emperor, who pleasantly received it, and entered into 
a^ conversation about Colorado and its resources. The 
Emperor spoke English perfectly with but slight ac- 
cent, and I was rather surprised with his apparent 
knowledge of the western regions of the United States, 
and of the northern States of Mexico, and upon my 
expressing my surprise he informed me that he had 
lately received for the government special reports on 
Chihuahua, Durango, and other Mexican States from 
commissioners sent out for the purpose. 

I took pains to impress upon the Emperor the con- 
spicuous importance I believed Colorado would gain 
in the future from its practically inexhaustible mineral 



A Sportsman 185 

wealth, which resulted in his conclusion to have a 
commissioner sent out to examine and report officially 
upon the subject. This afterwards led to the appoint- 
ment of Louis Simonin, author of La Vie Suterraine, 
a prominent French work on mines, and of other min- 
ing works, and Professor of Geology in the French 
"Ecole des Mines." Monsieur Simonin was also a 
prominent contributor to the Revue des Deux Mondes, 
published in several languages, in which after his visit 
he gave extensive accounts of Colorado and his experi- 
ences there. 

Our conversation with the Emperor then turned 
toward Mr. Ruggles's subject of a universal system of 
coinage, weights, and measures, which the Emperor 
highly approved of, and remarked that such should be 
decimal, which France had already adopted. The Em- 
peror asked Mr. Ruggles if he had acquired a knowledge 
of the French language, to which Mr. Ruggles had to 
own he knew little of it, but thought he had acquired 
a slight knowledge until a late incident satisfied him 
how hopeless it was. A few days before, finding 
himself confused in a part of the city he was unac- 
quainted with, he thought it an appropriate occasion 
to air the little French he had acquired, and approach- 
ing a gendarme asked him the way to the Rue de 
Rivoli, for if he could get there he would be all right 
for an3rwhere he would wish to go. The gendarme had 
him repeat his inquiry several times, and then, with a 
puzzled air, said : 

"Pardon, monsieur, mais je ne comprend pas Alle- 
mande " (Pardon, sir, but I do not understand German). 
The Emperor laughed very heartily at this, in 
which Ruggles and I had to join. 



1 86 Reminiscences of 

I cotild give many incidents occurring during my 
stay of several months in Paris, which would lengthen 
out unnecessarily my details, which might prove 
of little interest to the general reader, and which I will 
pass over briefly. One incident of some interest I will 
relate. 

One evening by invitation, I dined with an Eng- 
lish friend and his wife at the Cafe Foy, a small 
but very superior restaurant near one of the principal 
boulevards; a gentleman entered to dine whom my 
host immediately recognized as a friend, and whom he 
greeted with his wife in a cordial manner, and invited 
him to dine with us, which he did, and to whom I was 
immediately introduced, but I did not catch his name 
in the temporary movements at the table. The new- 
comer was of jovial and pleasant manner, and made 
himself at home without ceremony. His evening dress 
was a little off in necktie, and he wore a profusion of 
jewelry on his hands and on his heavy watch-chain, 
and carefully tucked in his napkin under his chin, as 
if bent on a full dinner, which he had. I was struck 
with his hearty appreciation of everything we had for 
dinner, and the vigor of his appetite, which he ac- 
counted for by the long walk he said he had taken 
before in preparation for dinner. His spirits were 
high and his conversation of the most animated char- 
acter, which inspired us in a similar way. We had a 
most jolly dinner, and our stay was prolonged after the 
other diners had retired. The conversation was gen- 
eral — ^the exposition, the French people, and the con- 
trast between the French and English fully discussed; 
the races, incidents, references to friends, etc. Lunch- 
ing with my friend and his wife the following day, and 



A sportsman 187 

referring to our dinner the evening before, I asked the 
name of our guest, as I did not catch it, to which my 
friend answered by saying, "Why, that was Charles 
Dickens!" I met Mr. Dickens afterward in London 
during my frequent visits there, and again in Boston, 
during his lecturing tour in the United States. 



I DINED one evening at the house of Emile de Girar- 
din, the noted owner and editor of La Liberie, 
whose salon, presided over by Madame Girardin, was 
noted as one of the most social and political centres of 
Paris. I was seated beside a Frenchman who spoke 
English fluently, and who had travelled much over the 
world and particularly in America, and who indicated 
so much interest in Colorado that I dwelt upon it more 
than I otherwise should. This gentleman proved to 
be Mr. Geise, a prominent official in the Credit Fon- 
cier, an important financial institution of Paris. 

Before I left Boston, in conversation with Oakes 
Ames with mention of my proposed departure for 
Paris, Mr. Ames remarked that as General Dix was 
there, and President of the Union Pacific Railroad, 
the French people could perhaps be interested in 
it, and if so the road would be glad to get a loan 
there on its bonds. Those who are familiar, as I 
am, with the early history of the Union Pacific Rail- 
road know the struggles it had to sustain itself in the 
first part of its building. It was largely discredited in 
business circles, and found, despite the large gifts of 
lands given by the government and the government's 
credit in bonds, that at various times it seemed as if 



1 88 Reminiscences of 

the building would result in a failure. Few of those 
interested in the Credit Mobiher, organized to carry- 
through the business, beheved that any profits 
would be derived other than those which would be 
obtained in the building of the road. Mr. Ames, how- 
ever, believed to the contrary, and but for his own in- 
domitable will and resources the road would not have 
been carried on in its building by the original pro- 
moters. 

The conversation with Mr. Geise occasioned his 
joining the expedition with Mr. Simonin, which re- 
sulted in the making of the first loan of $5,000,000 
realized by the Union Pacific Railroad. Another was 
added in Colonel Heine, a brother-in-law of Erlanger, 
the Paris banker, a German of broad views and com- 
prehensiveness, who was actuated by philanthropic 
motives, as to an opening for Saxon miners who 
worked hard in their native country for small pay. 

I visited Swansea in Wales with the sulphuret ores 
of Colorado, which were too stubborn for any process 
known in Colorado, and when shown to the experts of 
Vivian's great smelting works they occasioned a smile 
and response that they could be easily and successfully 
treated. 

i At this time Prof. N. P. Hill, of Colorado, and 
afterward United States Senator from that State, came 
to Swansea and secured the aid of competent workmen 
and soon afterward erected appropriate smeltiag works 
at Black Hawk, in Gilpin County, from which grew the 
ultimate great smelting works in Pueblo, Col., which 
have made Colorado the banner State of the Union in 
mining the precious ores. 

I returned to Colorado from Paris with the parties 



A Sportsman 189 

mentioned, taking the cars from Omaha part way 
across the plains, and then taking stage the balance 
of the way. 

With my associates, Simonin, Heine, and Geise, we 
left Paris the latter part of September, 1867, by the 
French steamer from Havre to New York and on to 
Omaha. The Union Pacific Railroad was then com- 
pleted some two hundred miles out on the plains, and 
from its termination we took stage to Denver. Our 
passage by the latter method required four days of 
travel night and day. The railroad was not then dis- 
patching daily trains, and the semi- weekly one which 
we occupied was of slow progress on the new road and 
carried an unusual number of cars, conveying a small 
body of Mormons for Salt Lake, escorted by an elder of 
the elect, and several carloads of young western people, 
going out to occupy lands acquired from the rail- 
road. 

Colonel Heine was a large man of rather imposing 
cast, dressed in velvet with leggings, and, carrying 
with strap over shoulder a large field-glass case, at- 
tracted considerable attention. Overhearing at one of 
the eating stations from some of the chattering rustics, 
fellow-passengers, comments about Colonel Heine, and 
a suggestion from one of them that it might be Brigham 
Young, I quietly beckoned him inside and told him in 
a most confidential manner that he had evidently pene- 
trated the disguise of the wily Brigham, and that he 
had best keep it to himself, or at least not give out the 
discovery beyond his most intimate and reliable friends 
who could be depended upon. That Mr. Young, pre- 
suming upon his being little known in the East, had 
perhaps supposed himself unrecognized in his disguise, 



190 Reminiscences of 

and that probably it would be as well to let him think 
so, as most likely he was accompanied by his body- 
guard of Danites, likewise disguised, and being now so 
far out on the plains one could not tell what might 
happen. In further conversation I intimated that it 
was possible that Mr. Young had been East to get a 
new stock of wives, as probably with his lively disposi- 
tion he might have accounted the old stock as stale 
and antiquated, in view of the improved order ex- 
pected now to be inaugurated by the passage of a trans- 
continental railroad. But who knew ? No one. Per- 
haps it would be as well, however, in view of there 
being on our train a good many young settlers going 
on with their not bad-looking young wives — it would 
be as well to keep an eye to windward and prevent, as 
far as possible, any unrighteous sealing on the part of 
the vigilant Mr. Young. 

Deeming this sufficient, with renewed suggestions of 
prudence in giving out any information of his detec- 
tive sagacity, excepting to those whom he could de- 
pend upon, I left the future-to-be-chief of a detective 
department, and at convenient opportunity acquainted 
Colonel Heine with the role he had been assigned, 
which he was much amused with, and, being a great 
joker, proceeded at the next eating station to stroll 
along the platform with a box of seals he happened to 
have in his portmanteau, ready for action. It was 
quite evident that the detective had judiciously 
imparted information by the divergence of the 
settlers as they passed along the platform by the 
Colonel, who, holding an open box of red seals in his 
left hand, held one affixed to the index finger of his 
right hand ready for action. The young women gave 



A Sportsman 191 

him a wide berth, but the elderly matrons indicated 
rare courage. 

The gaining of the gold medal for Colorado had 
become known in Colorado soon after its award, and 
created a vast deal more of enthusiasm than it would 
have elsewhere, from a region which had experienced 
more or less a feeling of isolation. The coming of the 
commissioner from the French government and of the 
other distinguished visitors was heralded by telegraph 
in advance, and we were surprised, when within ten 
miles out from Denver, to be met by a committee of 
mounted citizens that had been formed to escort us 
over the last part of our route, and to learn that a 
rousing ovation was to be tendered us upon our arrival. 

As our stage drove up to deliver us at the Planters' 
Hotel, a large portion of the town was in evidence, 
besides a band of music which discoursed lively airs. 
The greeting was most hearty and the hand-shaking 
my associates received was a new feature in their ex- 
perience. It had been arranged that a reception 
should be given that evening in one of the church 
buildings, where we proceeded after a wash-up and 
change of apparel. The building, though not limited 
in extent, was crowded to its capacity, and to meet 
the expectations, Simonin, Heine, and I had to make 
acknowledgments of appreciation and references to 
some matters we knew of, and others we did not. 

Mr. Geise speedily returned home, leaving Simonin 
and Heine and myself to bear the brunt of the ovations 
which were extended to us from the principal mining 
sections of the region. We made an extended exam- 
ination of the mineral conditions, receiving banquets 
at Denver, Central City, and Georgetown, at each of 



192 Reminiscences of 

which towns we gave lectures to meet the general de- 
sire of the people. Simonin's was on mining affairs 
and the comparison of Colorado mines with those of 
other countries. Heine's was upon the general world 
in comparison with Colorado, and the necessity of in- 
viting experienced miners from European countries, 
especially from Germany. My lectures were upon the 
Paris Exposition and the future of Colorado, and I will 
here note that after the first delivery of my lecture in 
Denver I remarked to Simonin and Heine that I felt a 
consciousness that I had gone too far in my sanguine 
illustrations of the future of that country, and in my 
suggestions of the readiness they should be in to re- 
ceive the benefits of the civilizing effects of railroads, 
which would ramify, and the developments that would 
occur from a rapidly increasing population. 

It appeared to me that perhaps I was drawing too 
heavily upon the expectation for the nourishment of 
a moderate population, suffering from the want of 
many necessities of comfort, and largely isolated from 
the general world. But as I reflect now after an inter- 
val of forty years and consider the present popula- 
tion of the State, which has more than doubled in 
each decade, and the railroads which intersect its 
limits, surpassing in extent and profitable business any 
other similar area west of the Missouri River, and 
its annual yield of precious ores, exceeding that of any 
other State in the Union or of any European sover- 
eignty, I am satisfied that my prophecies were more 
below than above the realizations. 



A Sportsman 193 

A PROPOS of the Emperor Napoleon's interest in 
^* Colorado , before referred to , it will be remembered 
that the Emperor, always a dreamer of the Empire, 
had but lately experienced the reverses of the French 
troops sent to Mexico to aid the unfortunate Maxi- 
milian, brother of the Emperor of Austria, whom 
Napoleon endeavored to establish upon the throne of 
Mexico, and establish a Latin Monarchy there. Al- 
though Maximilian had been executed by the Mexican 
General Juarez and the French troops had been with- 
drawn, the Emperor, with that tenacity constitu- 
tional with him, had never become reconciled to the 
result, and undoubtedly still dreamed of a future 
conquest. It will be noted that Napoleon in his 
scheme of a Latin Empire upon the American con- 
tinent had more foundation for a possibility of suc- 
cess than would be willingly conceded by the younger 
generation of this country, whose memories do not 
extend back forty years, and who do not remember 
how critical at many times the conditions were dur- 
ing the Civil War, when the strongest supporters of 
the Union grew faint with apprehensions. There 
were several occasions when, if a recognition of the 
Southern Confederacy by the principal European coun- 
tries had occurred, it would have almost insured the 
success of the South. 

There is but little doubt that when Napoleon, sup- 
porting Maximilian during the earlier part of the 
Civil War, when the Union was distracted by its 
internal convulsions, invited the English government 
to join France in a recognition of the Southern Con- 
federacy, the Union was in great peril, for a recogni- 
tion, as proposed, would have involved the North 



194 Reminiscences of 

in an additional conflict with the most important 
European nations. Palmerston, then Minister of 
the Exchequer, was well known as friendly to the 
South, and even Gladstone publicly expressed himself 
as believing that the Disunionists would prevail. 
Roebuck and Laird and many others in the English 
Parliament were savagely opposed to a continuance 
of the American Union, and we owe much, if not 
immeasurably, to our American Minister, Charles 
Francis Adams, for his courageous and manly de- 
fence of the Union, and his defiant challenge to war 
with the English nation, without delay, upon its 
recognition of the South. To John Bright more than 
to another in the English Parliament in his vigorous 
defence of the Union, and largely, undoubtedly, to 
the heart-felt influence of the British Queen, do we 
owe much for the preservation of our now glorious 
Union. 

It is a question yet to be answered if Napoleon had 
not made an understanding with the leaders of the 
Southern Confederacy for aid in establishing a Latin 
Monarchy in Mexico, in case of the recognition and 
success of the South. He, however, did not dare 
alone to brave the contest, or to involve France in a 
war which could not be responded to by its people, 
already imbued by a republican spirit. Nor could 
England involve herself when the support of her people 
would not be given for a war in which their sympa- 
thies could not be enlisted, despite the antagonism of 
the autocratic classes — who to a unit viewed with 
jealousy the growing importance of America, — ^now 
happily averted by an overwhelming power, which 
cannot be diverted. 



A Sportsman 195 

Times have changed since the time of George the 
Fourth and Lord North, when representatives of 
rotten burroughs and kingly idiocy could declare 
war against the wish of the people, when foreign 
mercenaries could be hired to conquer freedom. And 
the greatest rebellion of history was overcome. 

Patrick Henry said in the Virginia Assembly: 
"Three millions of people armed in the holy cause 
of Liberty are invulnerable to any foe the enemy can 
send against us." 

Yet, in the Civil War a vast number larger were 
engaged for independence from the Union. Yet the 
liberty they fought for was not obtained, but occurred 
in the freedom of millions of slaves. Happily, dis- 
sension was averted, and now will go forward clearly, 
absolutely, and distinctly the Americanizing of the 
world. 

Mention has heretofore been made of the Union 
Pacific Railroad, which was proceeding with great 
rapidity, and more so than any railroad ever before 
built, accomplishing in one day during its building 
across the plains the laying of ten miles of rails, and 
the completion of the railroad in its connection with 
the Central Pacific Railroad from California was 
made at Promontory, beyond Ogden, in 1869. 

I have no doubt but Jay Gould acquired over 
twenty-five millions of dollars first and last from the 
Union Pacific Railroad, largely increasing his for- 
tune at the expense of the road, and from his actions 
the road was mainly thrown into the hands of a public 
receiver. He was not interested in the first building 
of the road, but its condition afterwards presented a 
grand object for his peculiar manipulations, which 



196 Reminiscences of 

appearing at first so fair and promising led to con- 
fidence in his management and largely influenced 
its consequent bankruptcy; from this it was only 
rescued by the drastic efforts of a new management. 
From the hands of the receiver it emerged in good 
form, and has now become, with its outreaching aux- 
iliaries, one of the most important, extensive, and 
profitable roads in this country. As I was somewhat 
familiar with the artful methods of the crafty Gould, 
which were well known, though not to the public, in 
some particulars in connection with the Union Pacific 
Railroad, I will diverge here in references, especially 
to the latter. 

After the completion of the road, the general busi- 
ness of the country being dull, it was not profitable, and 
there were periods of depression when the burden 
of the managers was heavy. The through business 
was limited. Land sales were slow and expenses 
were heavy. Land bonds had to be issued predicated 
upon future realizations, as well as income bonds to 
be paid by future profits. It was during one of these 
periods when the heaviest owners in the road, loaded 
up with securities which were difiicult to sell or bor- 
row upon, invited the aid of Mr. Gould. This was 
declined. The burdens became still heavier, and some 
of the largest owners refused to further sustain a sink- 
ing credit in defence of their own holdings. But Mr. 
Oakes Ames, and a very few others who believed in 
the ultimate success of the road, held on with unabated 
confidence, with credit, however, much impaired. 

In this extremity, when again being solicited, Mr. 
Gould signified his willingness to come on to Boston 
and confer with the bodyguard. The meeting ex- 



A Sportsman 197 

tended over several days in the Sears Building, where 
the offices of the company then were. The road was 
then behind, with a large floating debt. The con- 
ference resulted finally in a transfer of large blocks 
of stock at about fourteen dollars per share to Mr. 
Gould from the principal owners, besides large amounts 
of land and income bonds at large discount, and a 
loan was arranged by Mr. Gould of ten millions of 
dollars to take up the floating debts. When the trade 
was completed and the stock and bonds were delivered 
and the checks in payment, Mr. Gould drew from his 
pocket a thickish, good-sized memorandum book and 
asid: 

"Gentlemen, I will draw your attention to this 
book. A year ago, when you first invited me to join 
you, I sent out an agent to Omaha, who, with assist- 
ants, spent a number of months in a critical exami- 
nation of your road. In that examination every 
station on your line was visited, and in this book 
you will see a description of the stations, with the 
names of every station keeper, and an account, as 
correctly as could be obtained, of his history before 
and after joining your service. You will find here 
an account of his conduct since acting in your em- 
ploy. If he is of temperate habits and honest: if he 
is a gambler or negligent, or identified in any way 
with suspicious or doubtful characters; also an ac- 
count of the local resources about each station. In 
fact, a description in detail of the actual situation of 
your road, and the character of the lands acquired by 
the government appropriation and their possibilities. 
All this information has been acquired by my agents, 
who in assumed characters of traders, land buyers, 



198 Reminiscences of 

sportsmen, and otherwise have studiously obtained the 
information. I required this before undertaking so 
large a venture as I have now made with you, and I 
wish to assure you of my belief that you have an im- 
mensely valuable property, and that I believe the 
period is not far distant when you will commence 
dividends, which will be fairly earned by the legitimate 
business which will come to you. I will say that I 
shall not dispose of any of my stock until it will sell 
at above par, and be on a dividend-paying basis." 

And he did not. Business increased steadily. Mr. 
Gould became a director in the company. Having 
a large amount of stock and bonds, he influenced the 
directors to commence paying dividends before such 
should have been paid out, and fifteen millions of dol- 
lars were so paid, which should have been retained as 
an appropriate surplus for so large a company. But 
it was Mr. Gould's interest to have these dividends paid 
to enhance the market value of his stock and securities, 
and it is probable that it did not require very much 
urging to have the directors acquiesce in it. 

The occasion had now arrived for Mr. Gould to dis- 
play his astute and complex system of self-improve- 
ment. Mr. Oakes Ames was dead. Mr. Gould resis^ned 
as a director, and Mr. Sidney Dillon was made presi- 
dent. Affairs looked well and dividends were paid 
regularly. The president was always friendly with 
Mr. Gould, and when he died he possessed a very much 
larger property than he was credited to have possessed. 
It was prudent for Mr. Gould to resign as a director 
in view of the role he had assumed of benefactor of 
the road in giving buoyancy to the financial statements 
and bridging over dividend-paying periods, when Httle 



A Sportsman 199 

anxiety existed with the management regarding the 
source of supply. 

With the growing importance of the great national 
highway, it should control and own a considerable 
number of independent branch roads which had grown 
into existence as feeders along the route, and the 
benevolent and philanthropic Mr. Gould, anticipating 
such a demand, commenced the acquirement of such 
roads, which were duly turned over to the Union Pacific, 
which was relieved from the tedious and somewhat per- 
plexing details of purchasing, by presenting them in 
lump sums quite desirable to accept in view of their 
value. 

I met one day at the Windsor Hotel, in New York, 
ex-Governor Evans, who expressed his elation in having 
just disposed of the Denver and South Park Railroad 
in Colorado, to Mr. Gould, and he exhibited to me the 
good-sized certified check of Mr. Gould for the sum of 
twenty-four hundred thousand dollars, just received 
for the sale. This railroad being soon afterwards ac- 
quired by the Union Pacific road, I had the curiosity to 
ascertain what was paid for it, and learned that it was 
thirty-six hundred thousand dollars, a small matter 
of twelve hundred thousand dollars difference. This 
road was afterwards completely abandoned by the 
Union Pacific as worthless and not worth keeping 
against its bonded indebtedness, being a long out-of- 
the-way road to Leadville, superseded by shorter and 
more efficient roads. 

Other roads followed in sequence by the beneficent 
aid of Mr. Gould, and finally the Union Pacific, with 
a depleted treasury, suspended its dividends. Ere 
this period arrived Mr. Gould, having a necessity for 



200 Reminiscences of 

fluids required in another direction, disposed of his 
stock and Union Pacific securities, and as the stock 
toppled from its high price of one hundred and thirty 
and raced down toward zero, sold borrowed stock to 
an alarming degree. In this, however, he was fortunate 
enough to save himself from loss by re -buying at low 
prices which enabled him to make good deliveries to the 
accommodating lenders. 

In the later sales of roads to the Union Pacific 
Mr. Gould had more difficulty in having them ac- 
cepted than in the earlier sales, owing to an awakened 
feeling upon the part of the Union Pacific directors, 
as they viewed the depletion of their treasury, that 
they were approaching the situation of the cats who 
appealed to the monkey in the distribution of the 
cheese, who, scaling the weight, constantly bit off 
mouthfuls to equalize, until the whole disappeared. 
Then Mr. Gould, indignant at the lack of apprecia- 
tion of his advanced intuitiveness in knowing better 
than they what they needed, assumed the role of an 
injured friend, whose necessities would require him 
to appear in self-defence as an opponent of their road, 
and perhaps oppose the management of the road so 
tmfortunately acquired, which would perhaps require 
a connection with a new road to be built, which might 
to some extent parallel their own. This Gould was a 
great bluffer, and one effort in this line was the loading 
up of the Union Pacific with the Kansas Pacific road, 
which, with his sympathetic friend, Russell Sage, he 
had acquired for the benefit of the former. The Kan- 
sas Pacific went very hard, but by dint of pleading, 
urging, and threats, came in. But when the Union 
Pacific Railroad went into the hands of a receiver 



A Sportsman 201 

those cold-hearted managers, insensible to the bland- 
ishments of Mr. Gould, and the record of his devoted 
services to the road, had the ingratitude, claiming under 
the shelter of the law, to prosecute the friendly Gould 
and the guileless Sage for the recovery of seven millions 
of dollars fraudulently gained, but which was never 
recovered. 

Mr. Gould received his important start in financial 
life from his association with James Fisk, Jr., whose 
remarkable combination of audacity, buffoonery, 
roguery, daring, and unscrupulousness after he had 
stolen the management of the Erie Railroad from 
his patron, the veteran Daniel Drew, commended 
him to Mr. Gould. Fisk, after the execution of his 
gigantic fraud and perfidious robbery of the Erie 
directory from the confiding Drew, required the pecu- 
liar talents which Gould possessed. The glaring, 
shameless, and ridiculous act of one like Fisk, without 
personal means, striding as he did into the control 
of an extensive railroad, obtained by the fraudulent 
use of voting proxies obtained with the rtioney of 
Daniel Drew, paralyzed the street and outraged all 
sense of law and order. 

A recitation of the means employed is unnecessary 
here, and has been sufficiently ventilated. Gould, 
with all his craftiness and daring, would never have 
attempted the assassination of rights which Fisk did. 
But he could, with a master hand, loot the dazzling 
wealth displayed and hold the mock Duke on his 
stolen throne. This he did long enough to stuff his 
pockets full. Then, with gracious confession of wrong, 
he made restitution of settings from which the 
gems were stripped, retaining the values, and in 



202 Reminiscences of 

extremity fled before the old Commodore Vander- 
bilt. 

I knew both Fisk and Gould somewhat well, and 
many a cigar I have smoked with Fisk before he be- 
came notorious, when he was an employee in Boston 
with a mercantile firm, of which he afterwards became 
a member but was dropped for his conspicuous for- 
wardness. Not now, for I have diverged too long, but 
later on I may relate an incident of peculiar interest 
in the life of Mr. Gould not known, when he more than 
found his match in C. P. Huntington, his superior in 
patience and astuteness. In this case Gould held the 
superior hand, but threw it down in complete surrender. 
This after a three days' interview in St. Louis. 



OF the future of Colorado one may be well assured 
with its agricultural values exceeding its miner- 
als ; its inexhaustible mines, which have already yielded 
a billion of dollars ; with its coal deposits equalling those 
of any other State, though not yet producing one tenth 
of the product of Pennsylvania; and its facilities for 
sustaining more than twenty times the present popu- 
lation. Can one doubt the future? What shall be 
said of very many more areas of similar value in the 
Union ? What is to be the future of the great Ameri- 
can Republic? What will be the result of many hun- 
dreds of millions, as comparatively soon there are to be 
on the North American continent ? 

There can be no retrogression. The phantom of 
the Yellow Peril unfurled by the Muscovite to enlist 
sympathy for his aggressiveness in the East, which has 
met with disaster, fails to alarm the American people. 



A Sportsman 203 

The advance of the Japanese in intelligence and 
comprehensiveness does not exhibit any weakness, 
and will have an important effect on the Celestial 
Empire, which, however slow in progress, will inevi- 
tably advance. It is impossible to estimate correctly 
the results of the Eastern war, which may be of far 
more worldly importance than now estimated, and 
may ultimately change the conditions of some Euro- 
pean nations, and possibly affect our own. 

Upon Prof. Simonin's return to Europe he pub- 
lished a series of letters upon Colorado, which had 
extensive circulation in the Revue des Deux Mondes. 
One incident by him mentioned reminds me of a din- 
ner given us in Denver before his departure, com- 
posed of a dozen or fifteen, in which I appeared in 
his account, incorrectly, as an affluent miner, who dis- 
tributed gold nuggets for dessert. This was a mistake, 
the facts being that I, having purchased half a saucer 
full of moderate-sized gold nuggets for a few hundred 
dollars, exhibited them at the termination of the repast, 
while we were conversing over our cigars. Occupied 
in conversation, I did not observe the stupid waiter 
had taken the saucer around the table, with an intima- 
tion for self -helping, and before I discovered this feat- 
ure, the circuit of the table had about been made, and 
each diner had taken a selection and were making ap- 
preciative comments. It was too late to make a cor- 
rection without an awkwardness, and so I let it pass. I 
did, however, feel like poking the ribs of a fat man 
opposite, who, instead of taking a small nugget as the 
others did, appropriated a full ounce specimen worth 
at least twenty dollars, with the remark that he should 
give it to his wife as a souvenir. This was very 



204 Reminiscences of 

pleasant for his social advantage, and gave me a last- 
ing souvenir of his memory. 

I have never had any political aspirations, and 
never held any public official position except that 
given me by the United States Secretary of State, Wil- 
liam H. Seward, in 1867, as commissioner to repre- 
sent Colorado that year at the World's Exposition at 
Paris. Though several opportunities in my life have 
occurred when I could have gained without much 
exertion some official positions, I have given them no 
attention, as I have observed that once engaged in 
political affairs one is apt to be led on and become in- 
volved in the consequent following, often to experience 
many perplexities and disappointments, as instanced 
in the cases of so many, as I have witnessed. 

I have not declined such from possible interfer- 
ence with business pursuits — as I have always made 
such a secondary matter — ^but mainly from a fear 
that in politics I should lose largely my independ- 
ence, and probably my ability to prosecute those 
out-of-door pursuits toward which I am so inclined. 
I often think, however, when I witness the exertions 
made by those politically inclined for official positions, 
of the opportunity which offered itself to me in Colo- 
rado for obtaining a prominent political position which 
seemed of easy conquest. At that time Congress had 
passed, as an apparently political necessity, an en- 
abling act by which the Territories of Colorado and 
Nevada could be admitted into the Union and send 
their senators and representatives. The population 
of the two Territories was limited and insufficient under 
the existing law for either of the two to gain State- 
hood. But Congress passed a special enabling act 



A Sportsman 205 

with the expectancy of gaining new senators and 
representatives, and it was put to vote in both Terri- 
tories. Nevada voted for and accepted admission, 
while Colorado declined. 

At the time I was in Colorado, the subject was un- 
der consideration and there were several congres- 
sional aspirants strongly favoring the admission of 
the Territory, who were not particularly popular with 
the people. I had never given any expression of my 
political tendencies, and was much surprised to find 
myself referred to as a probable United States senator 
in case of Colorado's admission, and was called upon 
by the representatives of both the Republican and 
Democratic parties. First by old Commodore Decatur, 
so-called, the leader in Republican circles, and some 
of his friends, with whom I had an extended confer- 
ence, and from whom I had a tender of the nomination 
by the party for United States senator for election by 
the new State representatives, which would come in 
upon an affirmative vote of the people for admission. 
A moderate amount of money would be required for 
the expenses of canvassing and elections. I gave the 
parties respectful consideration, but most positively 
declined the proposed honor, as I had no political 
aspirations whatever, and in no way could I accept any 
political position. 

It was rather difficult to satisfy my visitors of the 
sincerity of my conclusions. They left me after the 
evening's conference with the expressed opinion that 
I might perhaps change my views after more con- 
sideration. The following day I was called upon by 
the prominent Republican politician who expected, 
in case of the admission of Colorado, to be my Sena- 



2o6 Reminiscences of 

torial confrere, who made strenuous exertions for 
me to change my views and accept the nomination, 
which he was entirely confident would cause the ad- 
mission of the Territory to Statehood, and assuredly 
occasion our election. But I was entirely firm in 
my resolution, and have never had any occasion to 
regret it. 

When the election came the acceptance by the 
people of the opportunity for admission was declined 
by a very small majority, so small that it could easily 
have been overcome by a very moderate effort, and 
Colorado would have become a State several years 
earlier than it did. 

While Nevada to this day has but very slightly in- 
creased its population from about sixty thousand, 
existing at the timic of its admission as a State, Col- 
orado has nearly twenty times the population it had 
in 1867, and is increasing in all respects in a remark- 
able manner. 

My stay in Paris while Commissioner from Col- 
orado was one I shall always remember as of ex- 
ceptional interest; and, although I have been there a 
number of times since, I have never found it so at- 
tractive as it seemed to me during the great fair, 
when it was thronged with so many visitors from 
all parts of the world, and especially by so many 
Americans whom I became acquainted with. Lately 
I visited the great World's Fair at St. Louis with 
a party of friends, and in expenditure and exten- 
siveness it surpasses any before given. When I was there, 
however, in June last, it was still in a considerable 
state of unpreparedness, but I found it of great interest. 
The attractions were many and of peculiar attractive- 



A Sportsman 207 

ness. The area occupied, being very extensive, re- 
quired a good deal of walking to reach the various 
departments. It is easy to criticise, and I do not pro- 
pose to do so relative to the general exhibit, which 
undoubtedly exceeds any other ever given in many 
respects; but, having seen quite a number of world's 
fairs, I am more impressed than ever with the plan 
followed in 1867 in Paris, of having a large oval build- 
ing — which in that case was about a mile and a half 
in circumference, built of iron and glass, which con- 
tained the principal exhibits of all nations — so that one 
could pass continuously from one nationality to an- 
other in rotation, upon the class of exhibits one 
wished to follow, without the necessity of traversing 
long intervening spaces, over roads and pathways, 
saving loss of time and fatigue. The machinery and 
heavy wares could then be relegated to appropriate 
annexes, where they could be seen by those specially 
interested in such, which do not appeal to all visitors. 

The array of beautiful buildings of perfect outline 
at the St. Louis Fair were of striking architectural 
perfection, and occasion regret to think they were 
all demolished at the end of the fair. 

At a dinner which I attended, given in London by 
Mr. Robert Bowles, an American banker, to Henry M. 
Stanley, the African explorer, upon his return after 
finding Dr. Livingstone, I was much interested during 
the evening's conversation by Mr. Stanley's refer- 
ences to his explorations, which indicated his remark- 
able character as one of indomitable determination 
and courage. He remarked to me if I remembered 
of ever having met him before, to which I answered 
in the negative ; to which he said that we met in Central 



2o8 Reminiscences of 

City, Colorado, in 1867, when he reported for the Miners' 
Register, sl paper of that town, my lecture on the Paris 
Exposition, and obtained from me some notes concern- 
ing it. This had entirely escaped my memory until 
he reminded me of it, and though I had no recollection 
of his name I remembered the incident. My name, 
then of slight local import, was in contrast with his 
name, unknown to the world-prominence it was soon 
to 'attain. 

Stanley was one of those explorers who was ex- 
ceptional among those of his class, in realizing a 
large fortune, in contrast with Mungo Park, Dr. 
Livingstone, Du Chaillu, and others who were prom- 
inent in their explorations of the Dark Continent. 
As a lecturer he was not a prominent success, but 
his efforts in Africa led to a complete revolution in 
the affairs of that continent, and a parcelling out of 
its districts among the European nations, and a far- 
reaching result, comparable with that of the Ameri- 
can continent from the discovery of Christopher 
Columbus. 

In one of my many trips to London I met my old 
friend Samuel Ward, known so well among his friends 
in England as "Uncle Sam," the brother of Mrs. Julia 
Ward Howe, and the uncle of Marion Crawford, the 
novelist. Mr. Ward was prominent in his own country 
some years ago for his literary articles, and as the 
author of a book of pleasant poems, and particularly 
as a bon vivant, and the recipes of his dishes and 
punches are still in vogue. As a lobbyist in Washing- 
ton he was at one time the most influential in directing 
the policy of measures in Congress, which are even 
now more directed at times by outside influences than 
would indicate the spontaneity of our representatives. 



A Sportsman 209 

Probably no American in private life was more 
popular or better known in London than "Uncle 
Sam," and I have spent many pleasant hours with 
him in his apartments on Piccadilly, furnished and left 
by the Duke of Portland before he inherited his pres- 
ent rank. The attachment of Portland for "Uncle 
Sam" was only exceeded by the affectionate regard 
of Lord Rosebery, who would monopolize, as far 
as he could, the association of "Uncle Sam" with 
himself, and who had in his several residences in 
country and town, apartments specially designated 
with the name of Samuel Ward. 

"Here," said "Uncle Sam," pointing to his writing 
table one day, "is where Marion Crawford wrote 
his first book, of Mr. Isaacs. He had told me about 
his experiences in India, and I was very much in- 
terested in his account of the character he met repre- 
sented in his book of Mr. Isaacs, and I suggested 
to him that he should write a book about him, and 
that he should commence now; whereupon he sat 
himself down at the table and started in, and be- 
came so much interested in his work that he never 
quit excepting to eat and sleep and take a little exer- 
cise, and in about a week completed it and sent it to 
print." 

One driving with "Uncle Sam" at the fashionable 
hour in Hyde Park would readily perceive the un- 
limited attentions he would receive, and the appar- 
ent rivalry existing for recognition from this placid 
gentleman of attractive presence. One night I was 
with him in a stage box at Drury Lane Theatre, 
which theatre he remarked he had not visited for 
many years, since he was a young lad pursuing a line 



2IO Reminiscences of 

of study in London, and we came to witness a spec- 
tacular play called America. Before long after the 
commencement the Prince of Wales came in with 
a party of men, occupying the royal box opposite. 
Soon an equerry of the Prince came over and re- 
quested the company of Mr. Ward in the royal box. 
When he returned some time after, I asked him if 
there was anything unusual, which he answered 
smiling, saying, nothing in particular, excepting 
that the Prince had a garden party coming off the 
following afternoon at Marlborough House, to which 
he had asked some American visitors, among whom 
was a charming young Miss C, to whom he asked of 
Mr. Ward to give some attention. 

Poor "Uncle Sam" died a few years after on the 
Mediterranean, on his way back from Italy, where he 
had gone to visit his sister. 

When I last left him he was writing his remi- 
niscences, which probably he never completed. These 
would be of great interest, and possibly may have 
been completed, and may appear at some later period. 



IN London— and I am referring to the old city 
limits and not the expanse included in the new 
growth of surprising extent — there are several asso- 
ciations of ancient date known as guilds, survivors 
of former useful purposes in promoting the interests 
of certain trades, known as the tailors, bakers, skin- 
ners, fish mongers, brewers, etc., the skinners being 
those who dealt in hides. 

These originally were of modest pretensions, de- 
signed to protect by mutual support particular trades. 



A Sportsman 211 

These purposes have passed away by the extended 
growth of the city and its surroundings, but the city 
charters of the associations are still in existence, while 
the trade members gradually fell out by deaths, and 
others foreign to the various trades were elected in 
place, so that in reality none of the trades are repre- 
sented in membership, and one going to the dinners of 
the tailors or the bakers would look in vain for any 
one who had ever cut a coat or baked a loaf. 

The present members of the guilds are a jolly lot 
of convivial souls, who elect their successors from 
among their friends, prominent business or profes- 
sional city men, who in turn continue to elect a similar 
class. The basic bond of union is the large fund 
existing to the credit of the guild, which in some 
instances is very large, as in the instance of the Tailors' 
Guild, amounting to over a million pounds sterling, 
aggregated by many years' increase of values from city 
property holdings. The annual incomes, therefore, 
of some of the guilds are very large, requiring con- 
siderable ingenuity upon the part of the managers in 
the methods to be pursued in dispensing the funds for 
the most complete satisfaction of the members. 

A considerable fondness is indicated for monthly 
banquets and weekly lunch meetings of committees to 
consider important subjects affecting the interests of 
the Guilds, which many presume to be concerning the 
character of the wines to be put in cellar in place of 
those which have been retired at previous meetings, 
and as to the details of the succeeding banquets. The 
banquets are of the most elaborate and expensive char- 
acter, at least those of the tailors and bakers. These I 
have frequently attended, by invitation of members, as 



2 12 Reminiscences of 

members have the privilege of inviting a friend or two 
to the monthly banquets, but not to the weekly lunch 
committee meetings, where the business is too serious to 
admit of intrusion, as may be well understood in ^'iew 
of the difficulty which exists among the opulent guilds 
in disposing of sufficient funds to equal the income. 
In vain are the markets sought over for the most ex- 
pensive viands. Fruitless are the efforts to swell the 
cost amount equal to the sum appropriated. Clear 
green turtle soup from Birch's or the Ship and Turtle 
at four shillings a plate, with squares of green turtle 
fat as large as a fat man's two thumbs, are a bagatelle. 
Johnny Dorees from the North Sea, at seven shillings a 
pound, help some. Sole slips and spring lambs are of 
slight value, but helped on by Delaware canvas-backs, 
golden pheasants, and Norway woodcocks. A confu- 
sion of sweets count something. The Hungarian band 
is an element of value. Sims Reeves, the vocalist, and 
other eminent artists, at from fifty to a hundred pounds 
each, to appear between courses when the dinner is 
well on, cannot be overlooked, but still a fainting hiatus 
of apprehensiveness creeps on when the summing-up 
still shows a surplus. A happy thought, as a glimmer 
of sunshine in a dark day, flashes in. The box of 
chocolates and a silver pencil given each guest at the 
last banquet may be given over for a sixteen-bladed 
pearl-handled jack-knife, with a corkscrew attachment 
from Sheffield, which will just bridge over the difficulty. 
A suggestive mind, that of Alderman Brown, who 
will sometime be Lord Mayor if he lives, as all City 
aldermen become Lord Mayors in rotation, if they 
are wealthy enough to stand it, and if not, fall out 
for a succeeding one. An adjournment will now take 



A Sportsman 213 

place, after a few bottles of old port of the comet year 
from our own cellar. 

The wine cellars of the guilds are something im- 
portant, and to refer to with admiration as containing 
the choicest liquors and wines to be obtained, and a 
lay-down of new stock occurs as fast as any old stock 
is drawn upon, and any member or guest at the ban- 
quets may freely call without limit for the most select 
wines on the menu. All goes merrily, and the ban- 
quet draws on. 

The Worthy Warden, arrayed in his gown of cere- 
mony, adorned with chain and medal of insignia, leads 
on, preceded by ushers with staffs, and the diners fol- 
low in proper order to the tables, garnished with 
flowers and precious silverware accumulated in past 
years. Nearly all express their preference for the 
clear green turtle soup with slabs of turtle fat, a spe- 
cialty of renown with the guilds; and express not too 
much hilarity at this moment, in memory of the inci- 
dent illustrated in an old number of Punch, where an 
aldermanic epicure, with portly nose, and napkin under 
chin tucked, turns sadly with repressed severity upon 
his adjoining companion with the request that he will 
refrain from further jokes for a while, as he had already 
swallowed two morsels of green fat without tasting. 

Will have Chambertin of 1867 or Clos Vogeout of 
'88? No, thanks, shall take Scotch and soda, but sug- 
gest you try the old port of the comet year of 1872. 
Money can't buy it. 

Hark! the alcove curtain parts, and a song from the 
lovely lass of the Highlands. 

Later on, the loving cup of gallon dimension and 
double handled goes around, but with no interruption 



214 Reminiscences of 

of the feast. The one beside you, rising in place, turns 
away from you toward the one beyond him, receiving the 
cup, from which he sips and turns facing you smoothing 
over the cup edge with his napkin; you, standing, re- 
ceive it and drink from, and in the same manner pass 
it on to your neighbor. The time has arrived for 
coffee and cigars, and the regular toasts are given in 
order : 

To Her Majesty the Queen. 

To the Army. 

To the Navy. 

To distinguished guests. 

To foreign visitors. 

To municipal magnates and others. 

It was on one of these occasions in Jubilee year 
that I was pulled into an anxious box, so suddenly and 
unexpectedly that I made a very awkward appearance. 
The one who was to respond to the toast of foreign 
visitors was unaccountably absent, and a pause oc- 
curred until the fact was evinced. The Worthy War- 
den, whose guest I was, and whom I had supposed a 
friend of mine, abruptly announced in calling my name 
that I would respond to the toast in the absence of the 
first party. It was a staggering blow, for which I was 
in no way prepared, and if I had received any intima- 
tion of it, I was hardly in the condition for a mental 
exertion ; for an early lunch and a delayed dinner had 
given an edge to my appetite difficult to hold, and I 
had eaten far more than was my usual habit and, al- 
though moderately abstemious in drinking, some mis- 
guided friends about me, with mistaken hospitality, 
had taken advantage of my obliging disposition to ply 
me with various creations of which I had been ignorant 



A Sportsman 215 

before. It was clear to my own consciousness that I 
was better fitted to grace a cannibal barbecue than to 
give entertainment to intelligent beings from whom 
appetite had flown. 

Thinking of the advice given by one counsel to 
another, in the absence of favorable evidence to 
give a general denial of everything, I entered my pro- 
test at the assurance of the Worthy Warden in desig- 
nating me as a foreigner and qualified as such to 
respond to the toast: Was I not at home among my 
own race, speaking the same language and thrilled with 
the same pride and enthusiasm which they all experi- 
enced in this Jubilee year in the reigning of the most 
amiable and lovable and wise sovereign that ever 
graced a throne ? 

Did not my heart swell with the emotions kindred 
to their own in contemplation of their magnificent 
army and navy, and the advance of civilization the 
world over upon the approach of their unifying force 
power ? 

Did I not find a sympathetic and hearty welcome 
here, and a hospitable greeting which no one can so 
fully experience and enjoy as he who returns after a 
long absence to his old home? 

Time, with its unstaying hand, will take away those 
living at the time of departure, but are not their de- 
scendants of the same blood and thought and feeling ? 
and when I look around upon your faces here, and note 
the kind expression of eye and countenance, I am 
tempted to believe that you may accept me as one of 
you, though I have been away for two centuries and a 
half. 

It was long ago when my English ancestors 



2i6 Reminiscences of 

departed from these shores for the distant land of Amer- 
ica, where in New England for seven generations, with 
intermarriage with their own class, they lived on, and I 
am, so far as I know, of the first to return home again. 
I was not consulted as to the place of my birth, and if 
I had been I was too young to have had voice; and 
what mattered it, if by your acquiescence I have not 
lost my birthright, and you do not deprive me of the 
memories which cluster about the land of my origin ? 

A few centuries ago your ancestors and mine fought 
out together for the great rights of liberty in advance 
of the world and established the bulwark of civiliza- 
tion, and to them mutually belonged the renown of 
our illustrious men whose bones are interred in your 
sacred temples of sepulture. 

You will not deny from me a share of the loyalty 
you all feel, or the wholesome pride and emotion you 
experience when passing through the immuring walls 
of the Abbey, or contemplating on the shore of the 
Avon the resting-place of the remains of the gentle 
bard whose imprint on the face of time is everlasting. 

Great and glorious is the record of your race, and 
the illustrations of progress given by your ancestors in 
the expanse of other climes. It is, however, but the 
exemplification of the sturdy, inborn merit inherited 
from the motherland. Not too far away are they 
from their old home to be reached by the friendly hand 
of recognition, though rolling seas intervene, nor can 
they be stayed in their courage and indomitable energy 
and intelligent perceptiveness until the whole world 
shall yield to their progress and accept the domination 
of our mother tongue. 

Then, when one shall come again as I have from 



A Sportsman 217 

a distant part, descended from your own, returning to 
mingle among those whose sympathies and affections 
and pride are as of his own, and may, upon an occasion 
similar to this, be given the honor of being called as the 
representative of a foreign element, may you not say, 
' ' Not so ; he is our kinsman ? ' ' 



GEORGE GROSSMITH, an actor of considerable 
celebrity in England and of some in this country, 
was at one time playing an engagement at the Savoy 
Theatre in Gilbert & Sullivan's play The Yeomen of 
the Guard, and had appeared in the first plays, and on 
in succession in important parts of the plays of the 
mentioned composers, and with remarkable success, 
and from which the authors had gained much advan- 
tage. He was of slight form, and, although not par- 
ticularly gifted in voice, was very correct and clever 
in acting, and withal of modest demeanor and sterling 
qualities. He was also an author, and in extemporane- 
ous musical composition and song, a great favorite. 
With my wife I attended the play of the Yeomen of the 
Guard, in which Grossmith appeared as Jack, a half- 
brained wandering street minstrel, accompanied by 
Geraldine Ulmer, a Charlestown (Mass.) girl of the 
same class. Their wandering about with songs and 
dances added much to the entertainment, and I fol- 
lowed them with more interest than given to any other 
party. Jack, in love with his companion, is finally 
thrown over by her for one more to her liking, and 
falls over in the end, dispirited and crushed. 

Some days after, my wife and I were invited to dine 
with some friends who had tickets for the theatre, and 



2i8 Reminiscences of 

the play to which we were invited was the Yeomen of 
the Guard, and on the second time I was more inter- 
ested in Grossmith's acting than before. A week or 
two after we were again invited to a dinner with theatre 
after, and to our surprise the play was again the Yeomen 
of the Gurad. I was more pleased than ever with Gros- 
smith's faithful rendering, and after reaching home at 
the hotel we were staying at, I said to my wife, "Was 
not that acting fine of Grossmith ? " in which she agreed, 
and I sat down, upon the impulse, and wrote him a let- 
ter expressing my admiration. This, as I can remem- 
ber, was something as follows : 

Dear Mr. Grossmith: 

By singular coincidence of events, I have witnessed three 

times with my wife your faithful acting in the Yeoman of the 

Guard; and, while I am not partial to witnessing a repetition of 

plays I have freshly seen before, I will confess to you that I am 

sure I have experienced more satisfaction from seeing your 

second and third appearance, than from the first. It is easy to 

play the fool when the character is a natural gift, but when a 

man of sense plays the fool as well as you do, it has called for 

a wit and cleverness which I admire, and I express it. I am a 

stranger to you, and you may not care for this, but you cannot 

deny me the satisfaction I give myself in writing you as I do, 

and let it pass. 

Very truly yours, 

I went to the seashore the following day for a week, 
and the matter passed from my mind. Upon my re- 
turn to my hotel I found among some letters waiting 
my return one from Mr. Grossmith, saying: 

Dear Sir: 

But I do care for your letter, more perhaps than you can 
believe, for I received it at a moment when I was unusually 



A Sportsman 219 

depressed from an incident which had occurred, and I carried it 
to my wife and said: "Is this not fine? it encourages me " I 
thank you from my heart, and remain 

Sincerely yours, 

George Grossmith. 

Some weeks afterwards my wife and I were invited 
to dine in Portland Place, by some English intimate 
friends of ours, and at dinner we were told that our 
entertainers were to give at midnight a musical party, 
which would be attended by about a hundred friends, 
among whom would be several artists of note, and Mr. 
George Grossmith was mentioned as one. I was very 
much amused at the prospect of meeting Mr. Grossmith 
in this manner, and told my amiable hostess of the 
incidental correspondence I had with him, and she 
said she had known him for years, would present 
me to him upon his arrival, and it would be interesting 
and amusing. This she did, introducing my wife also. 
During the following amusements, Mr. Grossmith im- 
provised a song with piano accompaniment, in which 
he went over our affair, with so many ludicrous inter- 
polations, in which I appeared as a North American 
Indian, that we screamed with laughter, and one young 
lady was so amused that we had to rest for a while 
upon her approach to a hysterical condition. 

I am reminded here of the elder Sothem, the actor 
whose part as Lord Dundreary was so amusing, who 
visited me at the lake with Holland the actor and two 
other friends, perhaps twenty years ago. Sothem was 
a great joker, and put up a good many, but was rather 
sensitive when they were put on him. He wrote a 
very amusing book, entitled Birds of a Feather Flock 
Together. One day Holland said to me : 



220 Reminiscences of 

"Snr hasothe a new cravat pin which he thinks 
unique in this country, sent to him from England, of 
silver and gold, showing a fishing rod and line and a 
creel. But I have also one sent to me which Sothem 
does not know of, and although he is not wearing his 
just now, he had a great deal to say to us about it, and 
is very much set up over it. You take this pin and 
stick it on, and we will hear what Sothem has to say 
about it." 

I did so, coming in to limch with the pin, which 
soon caught Sothem 's eye, and with astonishment he 
asked me where I had obtained it, to which I answered, 
carelessly : 

"Yes, a rather pretty pin. I bought it at one of 
the country towns as I came up to camp." 

"Good heavens," said Sothem, "what did you 
give for it?" 

"Well," I answered, "I bought a dozen of them at 
four dollars, they seemed so cheap. I thought they 
would make very good presents to the guides, as they 
are awfully fond of anything of that kind." 

I relate the following two instances indicating the 
push of two American girls who came within my 
personal observation, and although not coming within 
the lines of sporting reminiscences, may be of interest. 
These incidents being of a personal character will be 
considered confidential by the reader, who, I assume, 
will not mention it unless it may be to most intimate 
friends, whose reticence can be relied upon. 

The commencement occurred in Boston before I 
had reached my majority. I had a clerk in my em- 
ploy, a rather clever sort of fellow named Edwards, 
who occasionally referred to a flaxen beauty at the 



A Sportsman 221 

cheap boarding-house where he Uved, whom he ac- 
counted to be a most extraordinary beauty of much 
spirit and wit, and who he predicted would yet have 
some prominence in the world — the lovely Miss Jane 
Dare (an assumed name), the daughter of the widowed 
landlady, who made vests for a clothing house at the 
munificent sum of two or three dollars a week. Her 
father had been at one time a well-to-do merchant, 
who conducted a line of sailing vessels to some foreign 
port, but left his wife and only child penniless. It may 
be assumed that the subject was one of no particular 
interest to me, but from frequent mention of the ex- 
cellent qualities of Miss Dare my curiosity was aroused, 
and I finally said to Edwards, "Invite me down to 
supper some night, so I can view this prodigy of exal- 
tation," little imagining that I should become a feature 
in the future career of this sprightly Jane Dare. 

How casual and slight are the circumstances affect- 
ing the lives and destinies of mortals. Accordingly, as 
a lamb to the shambles, I accompanied Edwards down 
one evening to the dingy brick structure, on a side 
street, where he obtained his fried chops and lodgings 
for three dollars and a half a week, and where the rosy- 
cheeked Jane dispensed hot biscuits and doubtful jam 
to half a dozen embryotic merchants of Edwards's type. 
The butter was strong and the tea was weak, and the 
mufhns of imcertain stability; but Jane, Jane, Jane! 
she was as radiant as a butterfly's wing and looked as 
sweet as an apple blossom; of medium stout build, 
fair complexion, blue eye and golden hair. She gave 
me a hearty welcome as the friend of Edwards, and I 
scarcely regarded her excepting what I could take in 
at a glance, as I observed the somewhat suspicious 



222 Reminiscences of 

aspect of Mother Dare, who evidently viewed me with 
some curiosity and possible apprehensions. Qiiite 
needless in my case, and it was not iintil my second 
call, on a following evening, that I ventured to intimate 
the necessity of replenishing my apparel by the addi- 
tion of a waistcoat — after an hour's conversation with 
the mother and daughter and Edwards about the 
needed improvements in tenement houses, and of re- 
form in the school system, and other serious subjects 
— and before I left I had my measure taken for a new 
vest by the tapering hands of rosy Jane, who held pins 
in her mouth. A third visit was required to fetch the 
material, and my growing fondness for the mother's 
tea, of which I could hardly get enough, evidently 
manufactured from the garden shrubbery, seemed to 
disperse any suspiciousness which might have existed. 
I ventured to express the satisfaction which might 
be derived from a drive about the beautiful suburbs 
of the city. Mother Dare seemed to understand who 
should comprise the party, and expressed the difficulty 
of getting away on a week day, but might be arranged 
on a Sunday, when a pot of beans would answer for 
the evening meal. It was then suggested, as we were 
all to go, that a street car excursion to the Mount Au- 
burn cemetery would answer our purpose and give us 
a cheerful recreation. So we went out the following 
Simday afternoon to the cemetery, and I was struck 
by the simple and cheerful, but yet independent, am- 
bition of the pretty Jane by her remark, as we viewed 
one of the most elaborate monuments there, that she 
would be about willing to die if she could have over 
her grave so beautiful a plinth as we had before us. 
It was very touching, and indicated the spirit of the 



A Sportsman 223 

warrior who sought the bubble reputation at the can- 
non's mouth. But Jane had no thought of dying, 
and I am quite sure she would not have expired to gain 
a hundred Egyptian pyramids. 

A fair was to be held for charitable purposes in 
Music Hall a few evenings afterwards, and I had taken 
two tickets, and Mother Dare consented that I should 
take Jane there. I did, and Jane became elastic in 
spirit and rigged out in her best suit for the occasion. 
She was a lovely, charming girl, and no one could re- 
gard her costume in the glow of her beauty. When 
we entered the hall she was wild with delight and ex- 
citement at the brilliant costumes. "Oh, introduce 
me to some rich man," she said. "I must marry and 
travel to Rome and Paris and London. I have no 
time to lose. I must go." Jane was not particularly 
retiring or shy in disposition. 

I saw approaching in the promenade an elderly, 
bald-headed, but well-wigged, confirmed and well-pre- 
served old bachelor, whom we will call Ashberry, whom 
I knew, and who had lately retired from business with 
a large fortune after a wasted life at business, during 
which I doubt if he ever caught a trout. I mentioned 
the situation to Jane, who requested an introduction, 
and I accordingly presented Mr. Ashberry to her. Jane 
was a gusher of full volume, and the somewhat bewil- 
dered Ashberry, upon his quitting, asked Miss Dare if 
she would accept a lottery ticket he had just purchased 
in a probable two-hundred-dollar grand piano, put up 
at six hundred — six hundred tickets at one dollar each ; 
would Miss Dare kindly accept the ticket ? Would she ! 
I had no doubt about it, and she did with a subdued, 
inexpressible gush which made Ashberry totter, and I 



224 Reminiscences of 

felt sure he had then received an unusual wound. 
What fate depended upon that ticket? Pretty soon a 
number was hoisted over the piano, and Jane hastily 
looked over her ticket, and behold, it was her own ! Her 
modest and limited sewing-room was not, perhaps, just 
suited for it, but she never thought of that. Where, 
oh, where was the precious man, the angel of light, 
the creator of her glorification, who had given her the 
ticket! He approached, without even remembering 
the number of his lucky ticket. But Jane quickly in- 
formed him, and showered upon him such a merry run 
of sweet words and tender glances that Ashberry fairly 
staggered in the mazy flood. 

I thought it a good time to absent myself for awhile 
and, making an excuse to see a friend, left Jane and 
Ashberry for a promenade together, well satisfied that 
Jane would improve the opportunity. When I re- 
joined my May and December to accompany Jane to 
her maternal home, I found that the autumnal season 
of harvest had been woven in, and that Jane had ac- 
quiesced in the proposal of Ashberry to call upon her 
at her home. There, beneath the vigilant eye of 
mamma, it would be quite appropriate. 

Time flew, as well as love, with galloping steeds, and 
expectation wreathed the way with flowers. My visits 
ceased and soon I learned of the engagement of Jane 
with her long-waiting, impatient Ashberry. The mar- 
riage soon followed, and Jane removed from her 
tearful mamma's humble abode to a mansion in a 
fashionable part of the city. 

Years rolled on, a quarter of a century, and I had 
somewhat forgotten Jane in the busy hum of life, when 
one evening at a social entertainment in London I 



A Sportsman 225 

noted the steadfast gaze of a matronly and fashionably 
attired lady, who beckoned me to her side, but whom 
I failed to recognize, until with her hand extended she 
said, "Do you not remember me?" and then I saw it 
was Jane. I recognized then the abundant traces of 
her former beauty, not yet eclipsed by ravages of time; 
the still radiant cerulean eye, the yet unfaded golden 
hair, the expression of sprightliness, the soft, pleasant 
voice, which, when once possessed, never fails. It was 
Jane. She told me of the death of the lamented Ash- 
berry ; of her three children, one of whom, a daughter, 
was of surprising beauty and attractiveness and of 
whom I had heard repeated mention in connection with 
the bevy of fascinating American girls in London, little 
imagining she was the daughter of Jane. In fact, she 
was credited with having inspired a hopless passion in 
the heart of a royal prince. 

And Jane had perfected herself in accomplishments 
in such surprising degree that she had become an ele- 
ment in London society, and I was surprised to hear 
of the exalted and exclusive class she moved in, and 
her familiarity with members of the royal family and 
her associates were of astonishment to me. This was 
the last time I ever saw Jane. 

Another case of this character within my observa- 
tion was that of her whom I will designate as Miss Fran- 
ces Carroll, a young lady of remarkable beauty and 
character, who arose from a comparatively himible posi- 
tion to one of considerable prominence. She was the 
daughter of a retired and somewhat financially de- 
pressed merchant of Boston. Particularly fond of 
skating, I frequented in the season for such recreation 
the Back Bay area of the city, now filled in and built 



15 



226 Reminiscences of 

over by streets and rows of buildings. Here congre- 
gated on favorable days many young people for amuse- 
ment, and many merry occasions we had there. 

Among those frequently there was Miss Carroll, 
one of the most accomplished female skaters I ever 
saw, who elicited much admiration for her grace and 
agility, and whose attractiveness and buoyant man- 
ners brought many admirers. I was not long in mak- 
ing her acquaintance through some of my friends, one 
of whom was much smitten with her, but who made lit- 
tle progress in creating a reciprocal interest. Miss Carroll 
was not of the retiring cast, having a free and pleasant 
word for all her friends, and was in no wise backward 
in accepting presents of skates and various articles 
from her admirers, and I had the pleasure of presenting 
her with a pair of steel runners of recent improvement. 
Nature had endowed her with more than her skating 
accomplishment and beauty, as she had a voice of re- 
markable sweetness and power, and, as was afterwards 
shown, a remarkable faculty of application and mental 
ability, and with much ambition. She married soon a 
gentleman of wealth and removed to New York, where 
she became the mother of several children and occupied 
a prominent, though not generally accepted, position 
in society, and I attended several entertainments at 
her house there. 

After seven or eight years' residence in New York 
she became estranged from her husband, occasioned, as 
reports go, from his improper treatment, and took up 
her abode in Paris with her children, occupying a 
prominent chateau on one of the principal boulevards, 
and I saw her there in 1867. Her entertainments were 
conspicuous in American as well as French society, and 



A Sportsman 227 

her cultivated musical voice attracted particular ad- 
miration. After a few years in Paris she suddenly dis- 
appeared with her children for a few years, going I 
know not where, nor have I known any one who could 
tell. She returned to London where she has since re- 
sided, taking almost immediately a prominent position 
in that metropolis, which she has ever since sustained 
from her remarkable talents and accomplishments, and 
I venture to say that no American woman has ever 
attained more influence and prestige in London society, 
among the conservative classes, than she, and her 
identity will be easily recognized by those familiar with 
society in that city. 



MANY Americans considered it a privilege to meet 
the Prince of Wales — ^now King Edward the 
Seventh — and it was my fortune to meet him on sev- 
eral occasions, and all who have met him will testify 
to his most admirable bearing and gentlemanly quali- 
ties, and he made all feel at ease in his presence by his 
pleasant manner. 

Sir Walter Gilbey, most prominent and perhaps 
more so than any man in England in advancing the 
breeding of horses and their classifications, and in the 
organization of horses' societies, aided me most materi- 
ally in England in 1883 in making a collection of Shire 
horses for shipment by steamer from London to New 
York, and from there in a special car to California, con- 
sisting of one two-year-old stallion and five fillies, all 
thoroughbred Shires, which had taken first prizes at the 
Shire horse exhibition in London, and which arrived 
safely in California, and from which during the years 



228 Reminiscences of 

since I have bred their progeny. This breed of horses, 
from which the Clydesdale horses have emanated, were 
bred from old English stock in the Shire counties, of 
which the large, strong, distinctive English cart-horses 
of the present day have come, dating back to the law 
of breeding enacted in 1541 in the time of Henry VIII., 
and are world-noted for their weight and serviceable 
action. 

The ancient design in breeding the Shire horses was 
for purposes of war, and to give powerful horses to 
carry cavaliers in heavy armor for tournaments, and 
for the various pageants of state solemnities, as well 
as for cavalry and military purposes. 

Being a member of a prominent London horse so- 
ciety, of which Sir Walter Gilbey was the organizer and 
first president, I was invited to a dinner given annually 
by Sir Walter at his town residence. Regent's Park, to 
the president-elect and council of the Hackney Horse 
Society, of which the Prince of Wales was at the time 
president. It was a very distinguished gathering of 
the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Portland, the Earls of 
Londesborough, Coventry, Enniskillen, Lords Horth- 
field and Brooke, Baron Von Schroder, Viscount Com- 
bermere. Sir Dighton Probyn, Sir Selwyn Ibbetson, Sir 
Nigel Kingscote, and a few others of prominent note. 
I was the only untitled one present. It was quite 
informal, and all went merrily. 

The Prince came somewhat later than the hour 
assigned — ^half-past eight — a feature not usual at Lon- 
don dinners, but quite excusable in his instance, for 
which no apology was made. In fact, it is not good 
form at London dinners to make excuses for lateness, 
and thereby draw attention to the first mistake, for 



A Sportsman 229 

which guests are favorably lenient, well knowing that 
only a very strong reason exists for tardiness upon an 
occasion where promptness to fill is so well understood. 
I remember an occasion in London of a dinner I at- 
tended scarcely less important than the one first men- 
tioned, when nearly all were from fifteen to thirty 
minutes late, owing to one of those dense, suffocating, 
sooty fogs, which sometimes in the autumn drop down 
on the streets of London. In this instance the pasty 
gloom of smoky moisture was so dense that my cab- 
man had to lead his horse by the non-penetrating 
glimmer of a lantern, constantly impeded by corre- 
sponding vehicles travelling all sorts of ways, and, al- 
though I started well in advance of the dinner hour, I 
was nearly half an hour late, as were most of the guests. 
In this instance the delay was so general, and the cause 
so well understood, that it was the subject of general 
pleasant remark. 

The dinner given by Sir Walter was quite simple, 
and so considered by the Prince, who remarked as he 
glanced over the menu, that he considered it a model 
bill of fare, and that he should take it home to show 
the Princess, putting the menu in his coat pocket, 
which act I thought well to follow on my part, and, 
withdrawing it now from a package of old papers, I 
will give it exactly : 

(Gilbey Crest) 

Cambridge House, London, N. W. 

Dinner to the President (H. R. H. the Prince of Wales) Presi- 
dent-elect, Past President and Council, Hackney Horse Society. 
Tuesday, 3d March, 1891. 

Oysters. Turtle Soup. Clear Soup. 

Tweed Salmon (Carham) . 
Soles, Slips. Whitebait. 



230 Reminiscences of 

Breast of Chickens, Filleted. 
Woodcock. Guinea Fowl. 

Asparagus (Argenteuil) . 
Forequarter of Lamb, French Beans. 
Duckling. Green Peas. 

Sweets: Savoury. Desert. 

Champagne: Ayala's Brut Vintage, 1884. 
Madeira: Cossart's Secco Reserva Colheita de 1836. 
Hock: Schloss Johannisberger Auslese Vintage, 1868. 
Champagne: Pommery's Vintage, 1874. 
Claret: Mouton Rothschild's Vintage, 1875. 
Port: Dow's Dry, Vintage, 1863. 
Claret: Chateau Margaux Vintage, 1875. 
Sherry: Gonzalez's Vintage, 1847. 
Port: Croft's Magnums Vintage, 1834. 

The floral furnishings of the table were of rare and 
expensive exotics. After dinner the Prince of Wales 
and most of the guests remained, upon adjournment 
to the smoking and coffee room, until twelve o'clock, 
all in pleasant conversation. I had occasion to remind 
the Prince of his early visit to America and Boston in 
his nineteenth year, and that I had the pleasure, being 
Corporal of the Guard of the Independent Corps of 
Cadets, of doing guard at the Massachusetts State 
House, in the lunch room, partaken of by the Prince 
and suite. At that time N. P. Banks was Governor of 
the State, after whom the Prince particularly inquired, 
and referred to his martial bearing on horseback in 
the review of the State troops, and was desirous of 
learning of his after career. 

Not long afterwards I attended the exhibition of 
the English Cart Horse Society in London, of which I 
was a member, and I invited our American Minister, 
then Mr. Lincoln, to accompany me, which he did, and 



A Sportsman 231 

we entered the private enclosure adjoining the royal box 
reserved for members and friends. The Prince was to 
distribute the prizes given in award, and we seated 
ourselves one on each side of Mr. Lawson, owner of the 
London Telegraph newspaper. Mr. Lawson had ac- 
quired much wealth in the publication of his paper, 
and it was a well credited rumor that Mr. Lawson had 
lately accommodated the Prince with a loan of ;^ 100,000 
as the wants of the royal heir had been much in excess 
of his large income, and it was estimated at the time 
of his accession to the throne of England after the 
decease of Her Majesty the Queen, that his existing 
personal indebtedness exceeded a million pounds ster- 
ling, all of which was undoubtedly liquidated from the 
very large fortune he inherited from his mother upon 
his becoming King. 

Upon the arrival of the Prince in the royal box, 
attended by the Duke of Portland and a few equerries, 
he looked over the adjoining box, which was spacious, 
as well as his own, and sent his equerries with com- 
pliments to various prominent parties in the reserved 
space with invitations to join him in the royal box. 
Something of a thinning out from the reserved box oc- 
curred, and Mr. Lawson evidently expected to receive 
the royal invitation, and seemed to experience an agita- 
tion palpable to Mr. Lincoln and myself as the thinning 
out occurred without a royal summons for him, and 
when an equerry presented an invitation to Mr. Lin- 
coln and myself, Mr. Lawson rose with us and made 
his departure from the exhibition. He has, however, 
been knighted since the Prince became King, and the 
omission of him from an invitation was doubtless an 
intended act upon the part of the Prince, since Mr. 



232 Reminiscences of 

Lawson was credited with the authorship of the rumor 
about the loan. The position of the Prince was too 
substantial to require any exertion upon his part to 
find ready money when needed from the many affluent 
capitalists existing in London who would feel highly 
honored by being creditors of the heir-apparent. 

I met the Prince again at a presentation made to 
Sir Walter Gilbey, representing the subscribers to a 
fund of a thousand guineas for a testimonial subscribed 
by a thousand admirers in England at one guinea each, 
to which I was a subscriber. This was proposed and 
headed by the Prince of Wales and almost immediately 
filled, and Sir Walter elected to have for the thousand 
guineas his half life-size portrait painted by the emi- 
nent English artist, W. Q. Orchardson, which was duly 
presented, and was the occasion for another dinner 
given by Sir Walter to the Prince of Wales and some 
thirty of the prominent subscribers, among which I 
had the pleasure of being invited. 

My acquaintance commenced with Mr. Orchardson 
on a salmon stream in Scotland, where we were the 
guests of a mutual friend, and I was much charmed 
with his piscatorial skill and his ardent devotion to 
angling. Our acquaintance cemented into an earnest 
friendship, and we had many pleasant rambles together. 
I was not aware at our first meetings that he was the 
most celebrated portrait painter in England, and dis- 
tinguished for his Meissonier-like fidelity of detail. 
Renewing our meetings in London, I was often a visitor 
at his studio, but only by his special invitations, for I 
knew too well the error of intrusion in the sacred hours 
of labor given by painstaking and devoted artists. Mr. 
Orchardson, although so prominent in the artistic line, 



A Sportsman 233 

was a gentleman of most simple and unostentatious 
bearing, but whose countenance was one of the most 
attractive and impressive cast, and bore the imprint 
of his studious fidelity and painstaking industry, yet 
was most modest and retiring in disposition. 

I felt quite highly complimented when personally 
invited to the dinner, in being informed by Sir Walter 
Gilbey that he had also invited Mr. Orchardson, since 
he was the creator of the souvenir picture, but that his 
retiring disposition had induced him to avoid the promi- 
nence of that occasion until informed by Sir Walter 
that I was to be present, when he said he would attend 
if he could sit beside me. That was very pleasant for 
me to hear. 

After dinner while I was engaged conversing with Mr. 
Orchardson on sporting matters, we were joined by the 
Prince of Wales and the Duke of Portland, and the lat- 
ter interested us in an account of his bear hunting in 
Russia a few years before. It was the habit often to 
get after bear in the winter after they were in their 
hibernating quarters, when the peasants, finding such 
localities by the open perceptible breathing holes, 
would mark the spots and dispose of finds for a com- 
pensation, and his host having secured several, invited 
him to join in the hunt. Accompanied by a pack of 
dogs, the latter, on being brought to the localities, 
would, by digging at the holes and barking, soon fetch 
out the bears from their slumberous repose, which 
would be shot or overcome by the dogs. Several were 
killed, and one nearly cost the Duke his life by being 
shot at on his appearance by an excitable Frenchman 
guest, who, being behind the Duke, recklessly fired his 
gun between the body and arm of the narrator, nar- 



234 Reminiscences of 

rowly escaping his body, but taking off a considerable 
portion of his coat. These bear were of the very large 
brown species, and despite their supposed somnolent 
condition would put up a very ferocious fight upon 
being aroused. 



IN the month of June, 1864, I made an excursion to 
the Grand Lake stream for land-locked salmon 
(Salmo confinis), landing at Calais, Me., and by small 
steamer with a few friends by the St. Croix River to 
Grand Lake stream, where we built and occupied a 
birch-bark camp on the shores for ten days. We found 
the fishing particularly good, and had no difficulty 
in repeatedly taking doublets. We found the salmon 
lying at the head of the little falls and eddies and full 
of life. In fact, they are more lively than trout, and 
a strictly high quality game fish. Although plentiful in 
the stream and the Grand Lake above, they seldom run 
up over five pounds in weight, and it was not often 
that we caught one over three pounds, while the 
average would be about one and three quarter pounds. 

Since that period the Fish and Game Commissioners 
of the State have introduced the land-locked salmon 
into many hundreds of the ponds and lakes of the 
State, and the introduction has been almost invariably 
successful. 

At the time of this excursion this salmon did not 
exist in more than three separate waters of the State. 
One of the most important auxiliary benefits to this 
fish has been the introduction of the salt water smelt, 
which seems well adapted to nearly all fresh waters, 
where they multiply to an amazing degree, supplying a 



A Sportsman 235 

most important food for the larger fish, particularly 
land-locked salmon, trout, and black bass. In some of 
the larger lakes of the State, although the smelts do not 
grow to a larger size than two or four inches in length, 
and may be observed in the spring plentifully dead on 
the surface of the water from some unknown cause, 
they can at the same season be netted by the barrelful 
in some localities adjoining their spawning places, and 
furnish without dressing in imitation of white bait, 
a very palatable dish simply fried in pork fat, beef 
drippings, butter, or olive oil. 

In a few lakes I have observed there is a run of 
larger smelts than the usual, as in the Rangeley waters, 
and this season (1904) I caught one of nearly a quarter 
of a pound in weight on a small fly while casting for 
trout, and have seen one which weighed half a pound. 
As a fish food element in fresh waters, the smelt may 
be accounted of the first importance in its adaptability 
and fecundity. 

The flavor of the salmon is more or less affected by 
the waters it inhabits. I was a member of a California 
club which was the first, and I think as yet the only 
one to introduce this fish in that State, in Crescent 
Lake, on the Shaft er ranch, at Point Reyes, where they 
grew with unparalleled rapidity in less than three years, 
from six inches in length to four and five pounds in 
weight, but owing to a scarcity of small food fish, and 
living largely upon the plentiful caddis larva, imbibed 
a disagreeable flavor, though eager fly takers and of 
full game action. 

On Grand Lake stream we met two enthusiastic dis- 
ciples of the gentle art, Mr. Edward Lannegan, the actor, 
and W. H. Venning, since for many years a Canadian 



236 Reminiscences of 

commissioner of fisheries. Near our shelter was the site 
of Dr. G. W. Bethune's camp, for many years occupied 
by this gifted and eloquent divine of New York, who 
was a most devoted fisherman and lover of Nature, 
and who had died in Italy two years previously. 

One of our party was Walter M. Brackett, of 
Boston, the distinguished and celebrated painter of 
fish, especially trout and salmon, whose pictures 
ornament the houses of many foreign purchasers, 
and whose completeness in presenting on canvas the 
subject of his art has never been excelled. From 
his youth up he has been devoted to the piscatorial 
art, much undoubtedly at the expense of his time, 
which could be given to the gaining of golden results ; 
but with him of secondary interest, though dependent 
upon his profession for livelihood. But his palette and 
brush were always laid aside whenever an angling friend 
visited his studio, for the entertaining comparison of 
fishing experiences. Now, at the age of eighty, still 
active and vigorous he pursues the bent of his inclina- 
tions in annual visits to his salmon stream in Canada. 
At his living rooms and studio in the upper part of a 
house on Tremont Street, where he has resided for 
nearly half a century, I have passed many pleasant 
evenings in his genial society and with mutual friends, 
and owing to his peculiar attractiveness I have met 
many prominent people there, distinguished in politics 
and the arts, Henry Ward Beecher, Robert Ingersoll, 
Anna Dickinson, ' ' Petroleum V. Nasby ' ' — ^whose amus - 
ing letters were the particular delight of the lamented 
President Lincoln — Edwin Booth, William Warren, 
the favorite comedian of Boston, and others ; and many 
pleasant sit downs in the evenings I have had there to 



A Sportsman 237 

a broiled trout or shad, and a sparkling bottle, with 
an invited guest or two. Several evenings were thus 
spent with the genial Robert Ingersoll, who never 
failed to put in an evening there when in town, 

A curious incident occurred from this trip con- 
cerning Mr. Brackett and one of our party, Mr. Edwin 
Churchill, of Portland, a merchant extensively engaged 
in the West India business. At the request of the 
latter, a sketch was made for him by Mr. Brackett of 
our picturesque birch camp, and of the surroundings, 
showing the stream and scenery, which was afterward 
elaborated in an oil painting. Somewhat to our sur- 
prise, upon taking passage on the steamer from Port- 
land to Calais, Me., we found Mrs. Brackett and her 
only child, Artemas (now an artist of some celebrity), 
then nine years of age, who were to accompany us upon 
our excursion. Although Mrs. Brackett was a most 
agreeable woman, possessing a strong taste for out- 
door life, and tastes similar to those of her husband, 
and generally accompanying him upon his excursions, 
we were somewhat surprised to find that she was to be 
one of our party upon this excursion, to a region then 
considered pretty well on the frontier. When the 
picture was completed and forwarded to Mr. Churchill, 
he was a good deal astonished to find Mrs. Brackett, 
holding the hand of little Artemas, depicted promin- 
ently on the bank of the Grand Lake stream. This was 
not very agreeable to him, as he had evidently beheved 
that he was obtaining a souvenir of an episode in the 
wilds of Maine, where exposed to possible privation 
and more or less of rough life, the picture would excite 
a peculiar interest among his family and friends. To 
have a well attired lady, and child of tender years in 



238 Reminiscences of 

bold relief amid the otherwise primitive surroundings, 
destroyed in his view the particular features he wished 
to convey. 

There is a very sensitive sense existing with 
painters, poets, and in fact with all artists, in having 
their works changed after completion by others, and 
it is deemed very unprofessional, and contrary to 
good form, for rival artists, however critical they 
may be in review of merit, to personally amend or 
touch up the works of others. Mr. Churchill, feeling 
a delicacy, in opening up the matter with the artist, 
employed a somewhat prominent painter in Port- 
land — and it is somewhat surprising that he should 
have undertaken the change — to bury Mrs. Brackett 
and her son beneath a huge boulder, which restored 
the primitive appearance of the picture. By some 
means Mr. Brackett heard of the liberty which had 
been taken with his work and the metaphorical inter- 
ment of his family, and became much incensed; 
which led to an acrimonious correspondence with the 
Portland artist, which finally found its way into the 
papers, and was continued at some length. 

When our time for leaving the pleasant shores of 
Grand Lake stream arrived, I felt very loath to go 
away, and the day before breaking camp, two Indians 
came along in a canoe, bound for the wilderness of 
ponds and lakes above for wild cranberries and musk- 
rat skins, with whom I made an arrangement to go on, 
and made a somewhat reluctant farewell to my com- 
rades, wno were to return to civilization. In this 
canoe excursion we passed over a dozen lakes of from 
five to fifteen miles in extent, in a wilderness of waters 
and forest, camping for two or thsee days here and 



A Sportsman 239 

there when favorable for the pursuits of the Indians, 
while I followed my fishing inclinations, and in shooting 
small game for the larder, partridges and ducks, though 
not plentiful, were sufficient for our wants. Our trip, 
covering three weeks, extended over the Machias lakes 
and ponds, and up the Fifth Lake stream to a lake of the 
same name, and over the Compass and Duck lakes 
to within forty miles of Bangor, where I took con- 
veyance to that city. 

It was very interesting to follow from lake to 
lake over the old Indian trails familiar to my guides, 
where a carriage of our canoe was necessary. The 
two Indians secured an abundant supply of muskrat 
skins with their traps, as well as cranberries. These 
Indians had a decided preference for the young 
muskrats as an article of food over any other, and 
I, commencing somewhat hesitatingly at first, found 
them exceedingly sweet and palatable. The muskrat 
is not a carnivorous animal, being allied to the beaver, 
living mainly upon succulent water-growing roots, and 
vegetable foods, although partial to fresh water clams, 
abundant in Maine waters. It is a nocturnal animal, 
and a very interesting one, building mounds of a few 
feet in height for winter quarters, where their com- 
fortable grass beds are found. Many of these mounds 
are connected with the shores by under water routes, 
which they take care shall be deep enough to keep 
from freezing over, and connect with subterranean 
earth galleries. The farmers and natives often conjec- 
ture concerning the severity of the coming winter by the 
dimensions of the muskrat mounds, and it has been 
observed that however severe the floods, the muskrats' 
mounds are sufficiently prepared for them. 



240 Reminiscences of 

How shall we account for this apparently abnor- 
mal faculty indicated by animals, birds, and fish, so 
plainly evinced in many instances? I am reminded 
of the almanac maker, who prophesied the condi- 
tion of the weather in advance, who, pausing on a 
country trip to inquire the way of a farmer engaged 
in feeding out corn to his ranging swine, was given 
his route with the advice to make haste for his some- 
what distant destination, as a storm was coming on. 
To this he responded that it was not likely, as his 
almanac claimed a fair day. Going on, he was over- 
taken by the storm and wet through. Returning 
the following day he had the curiosity to ask the 
farmer how he knew a storm was coming on when 
the conditions for pleasant weather were so evident? 
To which the farmer replied : 

"Oh, my hogs know more than almanac makers, I 
could tell by the way they acted." 

The muskrat is much better adapted for rapid 
progress through the water than on land, being web- 
footed and possessing a flat, scaly tail of good length, 
admirable for guiding its body. The hind legs and 
feet are blady or thin, by which the rat can swim 
rapidly and feather the oar, so to say, in a perfect 
manner, and will go for a hundred feet under water 
without difficulty. A peculiarity about the animal 
is its musky odor, and if the supplying glands are not 
removed in dressing, the odor may be found rather 
too powerful for ordinary appetites, though my 
Indian comrades would not take the trouble to remove 
such sources, had I not insisted upon it. 

One feature of prominence I observed in the musk- 
rat. That of its extremely pugnacious character, as 



A Sportsman 241 

indicated, not only by its ferocity shown when trapped 
and alive, but on the scarred skins taken from the 
bodies of the males, indicating sanguinary battles 
which must occur among them at certain seasons of 
the year. Nearly every male skin taken exhibited 
numerous scars, and a few old ones were so fur-bitten 
as to make their pelts worthless. These animals, 
as with the beaver and otter swimming below the 
ice, have a faculty of expelling the air from their lungs, 
which rises beneath the ice to the under surface, of 
sucking in the globules of air and thus renewing its 
supply. This is frequently taken advantage of by 
hunters with otter which have been driven into the 
water beneath a thin ice, where their movement could 
be observed and followed, by striking an axe hole over 
the air bubbles, and by this wear out the object of 
pursuit, until completely exhausted, when it would 
be secured. 

On the Schoodic group I found one five feet higher 
than the one below, connected by a small stream at 
the head of which was an old log dam, pretty well 
decayed. Here, camping for the night, we broke 
away a portion of the dam, letting a good flow from 
the upper lake into the lower, over the old stream 
bed. As it looked promising in the morning when 
the flow reached the lower lake, I made a cast, getting 
a rise, and at the second, hooked a fine salmon, fol- 
lowed by one or two more, and apparently could 
have secured more, if desired, showing the attraction 
of moving water at that season for the salmon below. 

Deer were plentiful, and I could have probably 
secured several, if any necessity had existed, but at 
that season the does were with fawns, and we had a 

16 



242 Reminiscences of 

surplus of food. Scarcely a day passed without see- 
ing deer in the morning and at night, feeding or 
wading along the lake shores, or in the water, and 
several nights we heard them in the vicinity in the 
adjacent woods. Moose were not so plentiful, though 
we saw two, both cows with calves, and one passed 
along the water front near us with its calf, as we 
were preparing our evening meal, so near that it 
could probably have been brought down with a 
charge of buckshot. But to have killed a noble 
animal of this magnitude in our situation would have 
been criminal, and I have had several instances since 
that period when I have seen this mighty animal, 
which has always seemed to me to have been a sur- 
vival of the ancient days, pass before me unmolested. 
In some of the small streams connected with the 
Schoodic salmon waters, I frequently caught on my 
fly while casting for brook trout, the smolts of the 
land-locked salmon, which generally remain in the 
streams when hatched for the first and sometimes 
the second year, and which rise readily to the fly. 



IN 1869 I made an excursion with a friend, from 
Cheyenne in Wyoming to the Laramie Mountains 
for elk and deer which we found plentiful, and for 
trout in the branches of the Laramie River. The 
trout were tolerably gamy, but not equal in that 
respect or in flavor, to the eastern, and we soon had 
our fill. Wyoming for many years will afford a great 
field for sportsmen having a great variety and plenti- 
fulness of game. 

We then proceeded on by the Union Pacific Rail- 



A Sportsman 243 

road to Provo City in Utah, and passed several days 
at Utah Lake, a large fresh water body of about 
twenty-five miles in length by five or six miles in 
width, and one hundred and twenty-five square 
miles in area, situated thirty miles south of the Great 
Salt Lake. We found this a magnificent sheet of 
water, abounding in lake trout of a large size, where 
we caught by trolling all we could desire, and in 
fact gave away many to the neighboring Mormon 
settlers. This lake has since been stocked with 
bass, whitefish, and carp and now affords a very 
large quantity of food for Salt Lake City, Ogden, 
and the surrounding country. The large lake trout 
natural to the waters are especially plentiful, and 
we saw a seine hauled in while we were there con- 
taining several hundred pounds of the large brown 
trout. 

Carp and suckers, generally considered unfavor- 
able food products, are given prominence in recent 
returns of the industries of Utah among the products 
of Utah Lake, and yielding of the latter, nearly a 
million pounds in 1895. Owing to the altitude of 
4000 feet and the coldness of the water, the suckers 
are esteemed for food more than those taken from 
warmer waters. 

The Great Salt Lake, a singular phenomenon of 
nature in its extreme saltness — similar to the great 
Dead Sea and a large lake in Persia and some in 
South America — is entirely devoid of fish life, con- 
taining one third of salt, and in density so great as to 
float the human body with ease. It is larger than 
the State of Rhode Island, and half as large as the 
State of Connecticut. Although it receives annually 



244 Reminiscences of 

large quantities of fresh water from several streams, 
and the natural drainage of a large basin with no 
visible outlet, it has been of late years constantly 
receding, and in my remembrance has diminished 
its extent by over ten miles. It is comparatively 
shallow, its extreme depth being but sixty feet. 

Many have supposed that this lake had a subter- 
ranean outlet but its shrinkage is most likely occa- 
sioned by evaporation. In my memory Lake Tulan 
(Tulare) a large body of fresh water in Southern Cali- 
fornia, covering several square miles, has about dis- 
appeared by evaporation, and now most abundant 
harvests are being grown over the old lake bed. 
In the earliest days of California this lake was de- 
scribed as covering over one hundred square miles. 

Lately the Union Pacific Railroad has made a con- 
siderable reduction in its route by building a trestle 
bridge of over twenty miles in length across a shal- 
low part of the lake. The evidence unmistakably 
upon the neighboring mountains shows that in some 
remote period this lake covered a very much larger 
area, probably six or eight times more than at present, 
and had a depth of five or six hundred feet. Three 
very distinct benches, or water levels of prominent 
extent, are shown on the east side of the lake upon 
the mountain sides, where the waters of the lake must 
have washed for long periods on three clearly shown 
levels, separated from each other by from one hundred 
to two hundred feet. These levels are distinctly 
visible to the passengers from the passing railroad. 

From Utah Lake I passed on by the railroad to 
Ogden, which is now, but was not then, the connect- 
ing place of the Union Pacific with the Central Pacific 



A Sportsman 245 

on to California. The connecting point at that time 
was at Promontory, some seventy miles west of Ogden, 
a barren and desolate place, undesirable for a union 
place of two prominent railroads, and the intervening 
distance east was acquired by the Central Pacific Rail- 
road from the Union Pacific, giving each road many 
advantages over the barren Promontory. The racing 
of both roads building across the continent under the 
Enabling Act of Congress — so bountiful in the giving 
of the credit of the government in its guarantee on 
the second mortgage bonds, and outright gifts of 
many millions of unoccupied land — ^was eager and 
exciting, as I was witness of, from frequent pas- 
sages over the building routes from 1865 to 1869. 
Despite the enormous aid of the government, and the 
immense stakes worked for, there were periods during 
the building when the distinct bodies of workers on 
each side of the continent were at their wits' ends to 
provide ready means to meet their expenses. Im- 
mense discounts were made in the selling of the bonds, 
even those guaranteed by the United States govern- 
ment. It was at a time when the credit of the 
government was largely strained by the necessity of 
providing over three thousand millions of dollars for 
the expenses of the Civil War, when at times a dollar 
of the United States government was not worth fifty 
cents on a gold basis in the markets of the world. 

The government required the iron rails laid down 
to be of American manufacture, which cost both roads 
at many times, over one hundred dollars per ton, and 
which in some instances were laid over native iron 
beds, from which Bessemer steel rails have since been 
made, and much superior to the wrought iron used, 



246 Reminiscences of 

at less than one fifth of the cost of the former. Still 
despite all obstacles, the reward was promising. 

The iron rails could not be obtained readily enough 
to keep up with the grading, and the latter stretched 
out hundreds of miles beyond the track-laying, and 
from Promontory where the final rail-laying met, 
graded tracks stretched out in a total of several 
hundred miles beyond the place of meeting, still 
existing monuments of lost labor. 

The government aid to the building of the Union 
Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads across the con- 
tinent was one of the most broad-minded and com- 
prehensive plans ever conceived by any government, 
and at a period of financial condition when most men 
would have shrunk from undertaking the great perils 
involved; but it was carried through in the briefest 
period in which any similar enterprise of that character 
was accomplished, uniting the Atlantic and Pacific 
oceans by a direct route of 3300 miles. The govern- 
ment at that time was at an annual expense of over 
six millions of dollars paid out for wagon transporta- 
tion to its military stations through the wilderness, 
which railroad carriage largely diminished, besides 
advantaging the rapid subjugation of hostile Indians 
which imperilled settlements. The building of the 
great Transcontinental route also encouraged the 
rapid building of many auxiliary roads, followed by 
extensive settlements and the increase of new indus- 
tries. Many objections were made from various 
quarters to the advancement of government funds 
and credit, yet every dollar advanced was paid up 
with interest in full. 

The enormous advantages of railroad building in 



A Sportsman 247 

the United States, equalling in extent all others in 
the world, is exhibited in the immense harvests now 
grown and marketed, and in the large exportation 
of manufactured articles. Consider alone the magni- 
tude of the com crop of the present year estimated 
at two billions and a half of bushels, and perhaps 
more. How difficult to realize the magnitude of its 
bulk and value from a mere recitation of the words "two 
billions and a half of bushels ! " Load it up in the rail- 
road cars and see how long a train it will make. Cal- 
culate 30,000 pounds to a car, and a bushel at sixty 
pounds, and the length of the cars at 45 feet with 
couplings, and you have a train of over 50,000 miles, 
enough to go around the world twice. 

Little wonder that good railroad business depends 
upon good crops, and such as we have this year, 1905, 
and have had for the past few years give great pros- 
perity to this wonderful resourceful country of ours. 

At Ogden I found a special Pullman car occupied 
by several Union Pacific Railroad directors going to 
Salt Lake City over the new railroad just completed, 
wholly built by Mormon labor, afterward acquired 
by the Union Pacific. Accompanying this car was 
Bishop Kipp, of California, and Commodore C. K. 
Garrison, of New York. I was invited to join the 
party over the new road. In our passage down from 
Ogden we passed through a short tunnel which had 
not been completed quite wide enough for our car, 
though nearly so, and going at a fairly brisk speed, we 
were shaken up and alarmed by our car striking, on 
both sides of the tunnel, projecting points of rocks, 
which considerably damaged our car. We went 
through, however, all right, keeping the rails. We 



248 Reminiscences of 

called in a body upon that remarkable man, Brigham 
Young, who received us most cordially, and who 
entertained us for two hours in conversation about 
the Mormon situation, and various subjects. He 
expressed himself as not seeking the advancement of 
railroads in Utah, but yielding to the inevitable, con- 
sidering that such were by no means essential to the 
further success of the Mormon Church, evidently feel- 
ing that more years of the undisturbed conditions 
before existing would be desirable to strengthen Mor- 
mon interest, and refeiTcd to the already invading 
elements becoming evident, particularly to the reluc- 
tant giving of a license by Salt Lake City for a saloon, 
where intoxicating drinks were dispensed, one of which 
had now been established under the high tax of $3000, 
and it had been a question if the tax should not have 
been so high as to have caused prohibition. But since 
the railroad had come and with it an influx of foreign 
influences, the situation must be met as efficiently as 
possible, and he had no fears about the growth and suc- 
cess of the Mormon Church which was destined to yet 
leaven the whole world within its true faith. The 
arrival that day of a perambulating circus at Salt Lake 
City he was glad of, which he should attend, and 
highly approved of, and thought it would be highly ac- 
ceptable to the Mormon people, who had been debarred 
from such entertainments. The next day being Sun- 
day he invited us to attend the services at the Taber- 
nacle, and to Bishop Kipp, extended an invitation 
that he"'should assist in the services. This invitation 
the Bishop accepted,' and we were promptly at the 
Tabernacle, where special seats in front were reserved 
for us. The old Tabernacle, now superseded by the 



A Sportsman 249 

elegant granite Temple, seated some six thousand, 
and contained, as President Young informed us, the 
largest organ in the world, excepting the one in Music 
Hall of Boston, and had been made entirely by Mor- 
mon skill and labor. The Tabernacle was crowded 
to its extent, and the audience was garbed in some- 
what different costumes from those seen in Eastern 
city churches. The large poke bonnets, now unseen, 
were in evidence, and many long-tailed blue coats 
with brass buttons were frequent among the Elders — 
relics of former days from foreign countries. Despite 
the quaint costumes of severity, it was evident that 
Gentile influences were commencing to be felt by some 
of the younger portions of the congregation, in a dis- 
playing of colors which were not entirely sombre. 
These were the occasion of some remarks on the subject 
by President Young during his address, when reviewing 
the vanities of the world, and the tendency of the 
female sex to follow the fashions of the ungodly, 
which were vain and irrelevant to true piety. The 
sticking in of gay feathers, as he designated it, while 
appropriate to the male domestic fowl, growing where 
nature designed, could not be availed of by the Chris- 
tian woman without a sacrifice of modesty and re- 
ligious regard, — this with many admonitions of being on 
guard against some of the possibly pernicious features 
likely to be introduced by the influx of settlers, which 
w^ould follow the building of the railroad in the develop- 
ment of the mineral and agricultural wealth of the 
region. The audience was very orderly and attentive 
and it was clearly evident that the head of the church 
had a powerful influence over and complete control of 
his hearers. 



250 Reminiscences of 

The Bishop, accepting the invitation which had 
been extended to him, made what I considered a 
most excellent sermon. He was guarded, and prop- 
erly confined his remarks to general subjects. He 
was liberal in religion and above prejudice, and made 
a strong argument upon the advantages of Christianity, 
and expressed the belief that all honest workers would 
ultimately be gathered together in the bosoms of 
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and enjoy the reward 
of their virtues. Warming up with his subject he 
dilated upon the great satisfaction difficult to express, 
which would be experienced in that last resting-place 
which he compared with the joy which would be ex- 
perienced upon arriving at the home of our childhood. 
And looking around over the remarkable collection of 
Mormons from all parts of the world, dressed as they 
were in the diversified garbs of their nationalities, he 
dwelt at length upon the homes of childhood, the old 
house with its possible vines clinging to the portal of 
entrance, the old familiar trees under whose shade so 
many pleasant hours had been passed, the wild flowers 
of the field, the cold water of the old familiar spring, 
the old swinging gate so often freighted with its in- 
fantile weight, the merry laugh of childish glee, the 
mother's fond smile and pleasant words, all were but a 
reflection of the joy and never-ending satisfaction of 
the heavenly home. 

During this delivery, Brigham Young seemed 
strangely agitated, rising and taking several drinks 
of water from an adjoining table, and seemed several 
times upon the point of interrupting the Bishop. The 
latter had no sooner completed his address than 
Brigham Yoimg, taking the pulpit, commenced one 



A Sportsman 251 

of his characteristic sermons, in which he scored the 
Bishop in language both forcible and plain. He said, 
the Mormons could follow the Bishop in all the teach- 
ings of the Bible; but that the Mormons went much 
farther owing to the light of new revelations, and 
through which the Mormons, as the chosen people of 
the Lord, were yet to have the wealth of the world 
poured into their possession, and that the Bishop need 
have no fear but the Mormons would be entirely at 
home in the bosoms of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and 
the old patriarchs of the Bible, as they would be among 
the polygamists of the Lord. And so far as likening the 
satisfaction of heaven with that of revisiting the 
old homes, he would have none of it, nor would any 
of the Mormons. They had had enough of it; they 
had tried to cultivate the old homes, but they had 
been driven forth into the new land of promise ; they 
had been driven from pillar to post ; they had settled 
several homes before they came to Salt Lake City, and 
for himself, he had been glad enough to shake off the dust 
of the old home, and get away with an old broken- 
down horse and wagon, and he did not want to hear 
any more about it. If there were any of the Mormons 
who wanted anything to do with the old home, they 
had better get away as soon as possible, as they were 
not fit for the inspired selection of the Lord. 

The circus was a great affair for the Mormons. 
It was a sort of second-hand humdrum outfit, accom- 
panied by a few dusty elephants and camels, with a 
sprinkling of wild animals in cages. But it was the 
real thing for Salt Lake City, and it was very amusing to 
witness the excitement that occurred, when the gilt 
chariot containing the band made its appearance, 



252 Reminiscences of 

heading the procession of elephants and camels, and 
cages of animals, followed by the usual horses and 
trick ponies and spangled clowns. The whole town 
seemed to be out and aroused. Old men and women ; 
fathers and mothers, fast holding their children in 
hand, clogged the streetways, and followed the pro- 
cession to its end. It was the first gUmpse of high 
life the Mormons had had the great joy of seeing, and 
no triumphal return of the ancient C^sars through 
the streets of Rome laden with spoils and captured 
chieftains could have been a greater event for the 
populace. 

For several days and nights the circus held out 
with crowded tents. Brigham Young had his liberal- 
sized family box for fifty or more, which gave the 
signal for all hands to turn out, and it is doubtful if 
any good Mormon failed to do so. It was as good 
as seeing a circus alone to witness the general 
heartfelt enthusiasm of the audiences, and the out- 
breaks of laughter and applause were certainly beyond 
anything the circus had ever experienced before. 
The bareback riders, the spangled clowns with their 
old worn-out jokes and witticisms, became new, and 
Salt Lake City received its first baptism of high life 
and sports. 



'X'HE Dominion of Canada, comprising an area equal 
* to that of the whole United States, including 
Alaska, is one vast himting and fishing region, which 
should furnish satisfaction to sportsmen for ages to 
come. Being prolific in lakes and rivers which can be 
kept teeming with fish-life from breeding, and with 



A Sportsman 253 

over a million and a quarter square miles of compara- 
tively unbroken forest for the shelter of game, it will 
be difficult to find the world over an equally inviting 
region for sportsmen. 

Salmon fishing, the first among fishing pleasures, is 
comparatively limited in extent along the Atlantic 
coast of the United States, but extensive in Cana- 
dian waters and in the coast streams to and beyond 
Labrador. 

I have made a number of excursions for salmon 
fishing to various Canadian streams, where I met with 
particular success. From the Gulf of St. Lawrence and 
the Bay of Chaleurs a number of prominent salmon and 
trout streams diverge, notably the Restigouche, Meta- 
pedia, and Saguenay, and on the Restigouche, near 
the Metapedia settlement, is a remarkable salmon pool 
about half a mile in extent, where in some seasons as 
high as six thousand poimds of salmon are taken with 
the fly. In 1879 ^^^ ^^^o I passed in the season sev- 
eral weeks there, on some days taking eight or ten 
good fish. 

At the time I visited the section, one Frazer — a 
huge, good-hearted, easy-going Scotchman, who owned 
the land about the pool, and for a mile or so from it 
above and below — carried on farming and had a con- 
gregation of buildings, and a moderate-sized hotel 
where he accommodated fishermen, who then were few 
in number, charging, besides board, for the privilege of 
fishing, five dollars per day, which included one of his 
boats and two Indian guides. 

Frazer, although a Scotchman, was an exception to 
many of his nationality, who are noted for their canny 
and thrifty habits, and he found farming a very 



254 Reminiscences of 

moderately paying interest, and having a large family, 
and keeping continually a loimging crowd of Indians 
for occasional use, who fed upon his subsistence, was a 
good deal embarrassed financially, and besought me to 
buy out his holdings, which carried the riparian right 
of fishing, as held under the laws of the Province of 
New Brunswick. His asking price was $13,000, giving 
him a bonus of $3000 over the existing mortgage on 
his place, which being overdue was pressing upon him. 
I thought very seriously of taking it, considering the 
value of the salmon pool, but hesitated and let it pass 
in view of my camp established at the Rangeley lakes, 
which pretty well satisfied my fishing tastes. 

I mentioned the subject to a friend of mine, who 
made the purchase, and who turned it over in a few 
weeks to the now celebrated Restigouche Club for 
$30,000. This club, starting upon the property as its 
basis, on a formed capital of $100,000, with one hun- 
dred shares at $1000 each, and securing adjacent prop- 
erties, is now the most prominent and wealthy fishing 
club in the world, composed mainly of wealthy New 
Yorkers, and the shares of the club when changing 
ownership now are appraised at $10,000 each, and are 
only disposed of in exceptional cases. It is doubtful 
if the Restigouche pool could now be purchased for a 
quarter of a million dollars. 

In the vicinity is a village of Micmac Indians, who 
were once a powerful tribe inhabiting the coast line of 
Southern Canada in the early days of white occupa- 
tion, warlike and aggressive, svin-worshippers, and de- 
voted wholly to fishing and htinting. Peaceful with 
the French settlers, they quarrelled with the English 
upon their gaining the ascendancy over the French, and 



A Sportsman 255 

boldly attacked the English settlements, and had no 
hesitancy in plundering English vessels on the coast, 
and in several instances engaged with armed ships sent 
against them, and are credited with having taken over 
a score of vessels in the Bay of Fundy. They were fi- 
nally broken up, as hostile Indian bands have invariably 
been, and the village on the shore of Chaleurs Bay now 
represents the tribe, where they are advanced in civili- 
zation, having a grammar and printed parts of Scrip- 
ture and books of devotion in their language, partly in 
phonetic characters and type; and to see them going 
to worship on the Sabbath one would think a large 
portion of them were whites, so neatly dressed and light - 
complexioned are they. A rivalry in religion exists 
among them, as with humanity in general, part being 
devoted to the Catholic religion and others to the 
Protestant, results of their early teachings from the 
French and English. 

Among these Indians are the most skilful salmon- 
fishing guides and hunters to be foimd anywhere. The 
adroitness of those Indians in poling a canoe, standing 
up, one at the bow and the other at the stem, over the 
foaming waters, amid falls and rocks is marvellous — 
pushing and guiding the canoe with long spiked poles, 
with rapidity in smooth water, and slowly forcing it up 
the falls in narrow passages between threatening rocks, 
and all in perfect safety and freedom from splashing 
water. With my wife I made many of these river ex- 
cursions, which I shall always remember with delight. 

I had an amusing incident with one of my two 
Indian guides. One, Louis, was of extraordinary ex- 
pertness and very steady in character. The other, Joe, 
was heavier, but by no means clumsy. He would 



256 Reminiscences of 

fail to turn up on occasional days after being paid off, 
and his appearance when coming on again created an 
impression in my mind that he had been on a baccha- 
nalian revel ; and I was informed that he was not averse 
to such occasions, and that his squaw often collected 
his dues from Frazer for herself and children at home, 
resulting sometimes in a more highly opaque coloring 
to her visual organs than before — for, sad to relate, 
Joe had the reputation of being a wife-beater. I had 
reason to think that my stock of Jock Scots and sun- 
dry flies from my fly book were to some extent de- 
pleted while in his care during meal times, which might, 
however, have been unaccountably blown away. 

One day I lost one of my sleeve-buttons from 
my cuff, which I had observed hung loosely while 
I was engaged with a salmon, and was missing when 
I went to my noon meal, and which I supposed might 
have dropped in the boat. It was one of a very valu- 
able pair to me, being made up of two ancient silver 
coins of the Roman Empire which I had obtained in 
1868 from the ruins of Pompeii, with other relics from 
the excavations there . When I returned to my canoe for 
the afternoon fishing, I informed my guides of the loss, 
but they had seen nothing of the button, and the boat 
was clean and drawn up on the shore, bottom side up 
as usual. A diligent search was made at the landing 
where the boat was drawn up, but without result. I 
was quite annoyed at the loss, and somehow felt a tele- 
pathic impression that Joe knew something more about 
it than I did. Thinking it over in the afternoon fish- 
ing, I concluded to make a new approach to Joe on the 
subject and to offer him five dollars if he could succeed 
in finding the button, which I felt sure must be some- 



A Sportsman 257 

where about the landing, covered over perhaps by the 
shingle or loose earth. Joe came smiling toward me 
the following morning with the lost button, which his 
careful search had discovered about the landing, and 
received the reward of his honesty, which caused his 
absence during the two following days, passed in the 
celebration of his fortunate find. 

I had a curiosity one evening to make a rough cal- 
culation what one of these old Roman coins would 
amount to if placed at six per cent, interest and com- 
poimded from the time of the destruction of Pompeii 
by the eruption of the blown-out volcano which origin- 
ally occupied the site of the present Vesuvius, in the 
seventy-ninth year of the Christian era. This exhib- 
ited the immense power of interest, which eats up the 
substance of original value, and imtiringly proceeds 
day and night in its accretive growth. The value of 
this coin, which I estimated at an intrinsic value of ten 
cents, although worth probably a little more, would 
amount on the basis of doubling in periods of eleven 
years at six per cent, per annum, compounded, 
to the sum of $102.40; call it $100 for even figures. 
From the year 79 to 1905 are 1826 years; this 
divided by eleven gives a quotient of 165 periods 
of eleven years each. It will be observed that 
each period of eleven years gives an addition of 
three ciphers to the original sum. Therefore, in 165 
periods of eleven years each, there would be 495 ci- 
phers to be added to the original ten cents, giving an 
amount which is not expressable in the language of 
arithmetic. Roughly square the circle of the earth, 
which cannot be done accurately, and a discrepancy in 
amount of the size of the moon will be of small account. 



258 Reminiscences of 

Estimate then the cubic miles of the earth. Then 
estimating the value of gold at $250 per pound, and the 
weight of a cubic foot at 1200 pounds, you can then 
gain the value of a cubic mile of gold. It will be 
found that it would reqmre a good many hundreds of 
earths the size of oiirs of solid gold to pay the debt of 
ten cents borrowed in the year 79, with accumulated 
compound interest at six per cent. This should be a 
warning to lads and girls not to nm in debt, but to save 
their money. 

The sea trout fishing in the Restigouche and Meta- 
pedia and at the estuaries of branches of these streams 
I foimd very attractive. At times and places they 
would fairly swarm in numbers, and take the fly with 
great activity, and possessed the highest gamy quali- 
ties. The weights would average from one to two 
pounds, with an occasional three- or four-pounder. 

There has been some discussion lately in Eastern 
sporting papers as to the identity of the sea trout. 
Some writers have agreed that they were distinct 
from those of inland streams, and this has been main- 
tained with much force. For my own part I think 
there is no difference. All fresh-water trout will read- 
ily take to the sea if they can have access, returning to 
fresh- water streams for spawning, as do all of the salmon 
family, as a natural necessity. No fish imdergoes a 
more rapid transformation than the trout when given 
a change of locality, not only in color and form, but in 
flavor. The proportions of the body also change in 
salt water. The body grows fuller, while the head, 
not increasing with the general form, appears smaller 
than with fresh-water trout of similar size. The 
brighter hues of fresh-water life fade away, and the 



A Sportsman 259 

white silvery color increases. The flavor of sea-run 
trout increases in delicacy and the meat in curdiness. 
The sea trout often rise and take the fly intended for 
salmon in the Canadian rivers, and often to the annoy- 
ance of the caster. While they come early into the 
fresh-water streams, they remain late and afford much 
sport in the lower Canadian rivers after the close of 
the salmon season, and I have frequently lingered late 
in the year for this fishing, which is multitudinous 
in pleasant features. 

No waters can be clearer than those of the Resti- 
gouche, which are of limpid purity, beyond any I have 
ever seen. The flow is over a bed where all alluvial 
matter seems to have been washed away, and after 
severe storms, when the volume of water is increased 
tenfold over the normal amount, and when one on the 
shore can hear the rolling of the bottom stones carried 
on by the abnormal rush, the water is still of trans- 
parent clearness. On one reach of the Restigouche in 
the autumn, where the water was shallow on an ex- 
tended area, I observed from my canoe an occasional 
darting of trout ; but owing to the clearness of the day 
and water, I could not raise one excepting from a very 
long cast, which was tiresome, and if I let my fly float 
down the current upon an extended line it was apt to 
sink and catch on the bottom. I attached two goose 
quills on my leader within a foot of the fly to float it, 
and let out my line a hundred feet or more, from which 
I had an exciting success. 



1 



N California there are many attractions for the sports- 
men in the endless variety of game birds and ani- 
mals, and in the streams, where trout are plentiful, and 



26o Reminiscences of 

in the sea, where the profusion of game fish exceeds 
those of any part of the world. 

Several fish of great value have been successfully 
introduced, notably the striped bass and the shad, 
which abound plentifully and are furinshed at low 
prices in the market. Also the black bass, which seems 
to adapt itself admirably wherever it is placed. It is 
questionable if the carp and catfish, now plentiful, are 
of great value, and the carp, growing to a large size, are 
not sought for as an attractive food, and have become 
a source of particular annoyance about the tide-over- 
flowed lands having a large area adjoining the bay of 
San Francisco. Upon these tide lands many sporting 
clubs were established, where ducks, plover, and snipe 
gave successful bags. 

The carp, which may be properly designated as the 
grubbing hog of fresh waters, living largely upon the 
roots and growth of vegetable life, has made favorite 
feeding grounds of these semi-overflowed tracts and 
destroyed the snails and aquatic insects and tender 
plant life, so that the lands have become largely de- 
serted by the birds formerly swarming on them, and 
many of the club sites have been given up. 

The sport of hare coursing is one which is carried on 
in California more extensively than elsewhere in the 
world, for which the plentifulness of the hares and the 
many level fields give encouragement. 

In California the hares called jack rabbits are 
plentiful, particularly in the southern part of the State, 
consuming such an amount of ground feed, and young 
fruit trees, garden vegetables, and grapes in the vine- 
yards, as to be a great nuisance, necessitating periodical 
drives by which large numbers are destroyed. These 



A Sportsman 261 

drives take place by concerted action over large tracts 
of land, without dogs or guns, by the assembled people 
of the district. An enclosure is made in the form of 
a sheep-shearer's clipper; a circle almost enclosed, with 
blades or arms extending out for an indefinite distance. 
The beaters, distributed on the outside of a number 
of square miles, of which the pen and extended arms 
are the centre, work toward it, driving all the hares, 
and often some other game which may be included, 
into the entrance passage, and on to the terminating 
circle entrance, where all are securely held by the clos- 
ing of the narrowed passage-way. Incredible as it may 
seem, many thousands of hares are thus gathered in at 
a single drive, which are easily despatched with clubs. 
This same method was in vogue in the early days of 
Australia, by which thousands of kangaroos were 
penned up and slaughtered by the sheep men, and the 
same method has been pursued in various countries 
for many kinds of animals, up to and including the 
African buffaloes and elephants. 

Why the California hares have not so plentifully 
increased in the northern part of the State as in the 
southern is difficult to explain, and why the little cot- 
ton-tailed rabbit which are such a scourge in Australia 
have not increased in California, where they were intro- 
duced many years ago, is difficult to understand. 

Hare coursing is one of the oldest sports known, 
of which we have evidence in the representations on 
the Egyptian monuments and in the drawings and ref- 
erences in Persian literature, and those shown would 
indicate that but little change had occurred in the 
bodily form of the greyhound, excepting in the 
fringing, shaggy hair, which now has its representations 



262 Reminiscences of 

in the Scotch, Russian, Danish, and other types. The 
old Irish greyhound may perhaps be considered the 
largest and most powerful of the class, and a match 
singly for the wolf. This dog, crossed with the great 
Danish dog and the bloodhound, has produced the 
powerful stag and boar hounds now seen. The Eng- 
lish greyhound, however, presents the highest type of 
speed, docility, and beauty applicable for hare coursing, 
and has now been introduced so extensively in Cali- 
fornia as to be plentiful of a very high class. 

Having attended several of the annual hare cours- 
ing meets at Waterloo, England, and seen some of the 
best prize-winners there, I am of the opinion that we 
have in California equally good dogs, and I think the 
hares in California are equal, if not superior, in speed to 
the English, from their having more open life, with 
more exposure to animals which prey upon them, and 
consequent activity. They are identical with the Eng- 
lish hare, but vary somewhat in color from climatic 
conditions. 

Hares, when pursued by the greyhounds, having 
their observation wholly directed toward the pursuer, 
from their orbital sight, will frequently run directly into 
a fence or post and be thrown back senseless, or di- 
rectly into the jaws of an approaching dog from an 
opposite direction, and I have witnessed two occasions 
when pursued hares going at full speed were caught up 
by dogs held in leash by a man standing in the way, 
running directly into the jaws of the leashed dogs. 

I had one two-year-old greyhound of good quali- 
ties, but a laggard in the chase, that would quit 
early and take his rest. While thus sitting one day, 
his running mate brought around a hare directly upon 



A Sportsman 263 

him, which he reached out and killed. This was his 
first blood, and excited him to a high relish for the sport, 
and upon his next run he became the leader and 
after that one of the best and foremost in pursuit. 

Many hare-coursing clubs exist in the State, which 
have annual prolonged meets on the levels of the San 
Joaquin Valley, which have prominent notice, and one 
would imagine from these meets so extensively at- 
tended, with the natural excitement following, that it 
was in reality, as it is, already a State sport. 

For some years I have maintained a pack of 
these beautiful greyhounds, which have individu- 
alities seemingly equal to those of men. How one 
can help loving dogs I cannot imagine. The affection 
grows for them the more it is given opportunity, and 
there is no animal so near and dear to man as the dog. 
What affection he has ! How affecting his earnestness 
and fidelity, his courage and intelligence! He cannot 
be debarred from heaven if there is any for us to obtain ; 
for if we are to be happy there and have our wishes 
gratified, where will be the dogs we shall sigh for, com- 
panions of our happiest days on earth? Where will 
my dog Paris be ? — my lovely red setter, who at two 
years of age took the first prize in field-working class 
at the Baltimore show, who attached himself to me for 
so many years and to no other ; my companion in the 
field, in the boat for fishing, and who seemed heart- 
broken if I did not take him in my sailboat when I 
thought it was too rough for him. How quickly when 
I said "Sail" would he rush for my boat and curl up 
in it with tenacious right! How often would he go 
overboard in the lake, when his smooth feet slipped 
on the deck against his bracing poise, in sudden lee 



264 Reminiscences of 

cant of fulness, for he would insist upon sniffing on the 
foredeck to windward! He could swim all day, ten 
miles or more if necessary and in the roughest sea, and 
I never felt any anxiety when he slid overboard; nor 
he, for he well knew I would round up in due season 
and scoop him up into the boat by the scruff of his 
neck, when he would seem to say, after his water 
shake, "All right, master, let's go on." 

One day we had a tough time of it, and it made me 
smile to see Paris in his efforts to get aboard, when it 
was about all I could do to stay there. It was the only 
go-over of my boat which ever occurred in thirty years 
of sailing the lake, and quite my own fault, which I 
have always regretted in the loss of prestige with my 
family, from some of whom I had occasional sugges- 
tions of shipwreck, when the sky looked threatening 
at my time of going out, for there was little fun for me 
to go out in a kid-glove breeze. The particular day 
when the accident occurred was an unusual one, when 
some dark clouds were hanging about suspiciously, and 
I would not have gone out sailing under normal con- 
ditions. As the man said who was laying stone wall 
near the buckboard route as we were driving to the 
lake one day, where the stones were plentiful enough, 
and the wall was already of elephantine proportions, 
in answer to the inquiry of our driver why he was 
building more stone wall when already overstocked, 
"Oh, when I feel mad I go out and lay stone wall ; that 
rests me!" 

In somewhat of the spirit of the Berserker rage I 
felt impelled to go out. I knew that the conditions 
looked unusually stormy, somewhat in accord with my 
feelings. I know not why, for I had no cause for agita- 



A Sportsman 265 

tion, excepting a natural impellment to go out. My 
wife and daughter had gone out to the mouth of a 
brook two or three miles below, but could easily land 
beneath a shelter there, with their experienced guide, 
and I felt no anxiety about them. After getting out 
a mile or so, I saw a very suspicious-looking funnel- 
shaped cloud coming toward me with unusual rapidity, 
and I saw I was in for it, though it somewhat disturbed 
my Berserker courage. I had time, however, to let 
down my catboat-rigged sail and put three reefs in it, 
and none too soon. Still I thought I might weather 
the severity of the squall, close-reefed as I was ; but the 
first rush of the wind from the shore over the lake, 
accompanied by a torrent of rain, lashing the water 
surface to foam, indicated that I would be helpless, and 
as I held up my bow as well as I could, a sudden drop 
of wind, as it seemed to me falling from above, bore my 
boat beneath the water, but not deeply, for the craft, 
although carrying half a ton of ballast, had four air 
tanks below, sufficient to float her, and I had little idea 
of giving up the ship. The squall in its severity blew 
away everything movable, cushions, oars, and the small 
boat attached to the larger, for no small boat could 
have sustained itself in any manner, except sunken to 
a level with the water. My cap blowing away left my 
head unprotected, which suffered so from the flying 
water, pelting me as if I were in a hailstorm, being 
taken up as sand and small stones are in a gale, that I 
was obliged to tie my handkerchief over it, and my 
face had an appearance after the blow as if it had 
passed the night with a swarm of mosquitoes. 

Poor Paris was at times blown far away from me de- 
spite his rapid swimming qualities, but would not de- 



266 Reminiscences of 

sert me, although he could have taken a route for shore 
with comparative ease. At times he would be out of 
sight, and apparently engulfed by the waves, giving me 
much anxiety; but he bobbed up serene after the first 
severity was over, but could gain no footing with me 
for some time, as my boat gave me a treadmill step, and 
it was with some difficulty that I could keep aboard of 
her against the wind and waves. Lying flat upon her 
side, and her stem higher than the bow, held down by 
the way -forward mast and sail, flat upon the water, the 
wind would bring around the stem, until the wind 
would catch in the sail, which, lifting and filling would 
turn the boat over on its opposite side. In this pleas- 
ant manoeuvre the boat, water-logged, would sink 
bodily a few feet under water as the mast came up, 
falling flat on the opposite side, so I had nothing to do 
but keep step, and clear of the ropes, and wonder 
how long the play would continue. For a dozen times 
this continued, when, the squall abating, I had a com- 
fortable resting-place on the side of the boat with my 
lovely Paris by my side. 

The wind died away, and the sun came out bright 
and clear with many apologies for its previous disap- 
pearance. But dear Paris could not enjoy his pipe as 
I did, for he had never cultivated the habit. I had 
taken pains at the first outset, when I saw I was in for 
it, to tuck my pipe and water-proof pouch and match- 
box down inside under my collar, and buttoned up my 
rubber coat at the neck, so that my tobacco was dry. 
My rubber coat would have been blown off me if 
I had not tied it closely around my waist with a 
small rope I had in my pocket, after losing the lower 
buttons, I would have lost them all but for the rope. 



A Sportsman 267 

I have seen at sea a buttoned-up coat stripped 
completely from a man's back by the force of a gale. 
Despite my soaking and treading I did not get much 
wet above my armpits. In an hour after, simning on 
my boat with my pipe under way, my wife came along 
in her rowboat, and Paris and I were soon snug at 
camp, and I experienced no ill-effects from the pro- 
longed cold bath, although it occurred in the cold 
water of the spring, soon after the ice had gone out. 

Poor Paris had the great intelligence so con- 
spicuous in dogs, and well noted the preparations I 
made for departure from camp, when he would cling 
to my heels, and make strenuous efforts to get under 
my bed at night, and when let out, would haunt my 
door of egress. I had to explain the necessity of my 
going, and with a fond embrace leave him in a closed 
room, or he would swim the lake for miles after the 
boat. My keeper at camp would tell me how for days 
he would sit on the wharf of departure for my return, 
and no boat could touch in but what he was on the 
watch for me. When I would come, and I was sure to 
find him at the wharf, I would render myself as un- 
observable as possible until I landed, but if the breeze 
were favorable toward him he would know of my 
presence long before I landed, and plunge into the 
water to meet me. He was a very dignified dog and 
had little to do with other dogs, after the first round of 
scrutiny, when he would retire, and if approached by 
other dogs, would remove himself apart, but was the 
leader among the other dogs I had, over whom he 
seemed to consider he had to exercise a supervision. 

One day I came up with my family, fetching a 
new dog belonging to my daughter, a somewhat 



268 Reminiscences of 

solid fox terrier, Jack. As soon as he landed he 
pitched into an inoffensive dachshund of most peaceful 
disposition, whose cordial recognition of our arrival 
gave offence to Jack, and gave poor Polico a rough 
tumble before our interference could take place. 
Paris was a silent witness of the scene, which he evi- 
dently highly resented, and I remarked to my daughter 
that he would probably have something to say about 
it; and sure enough, for we had hardly gone into the 
house, leaving the dogs outside, when our ears were 
startled with a canine cry of great distress, and upon 
going out we saw Paris whirling Jack about himself 
after the manner of the revolving blades of a windmill 
in a brisk breeze. Our arrival was the signal for 
dropping, and poor Jack, dizzy from his rapid revolu- 
tions, and under the momentum of his discharge, ac- 
celerated by rapid locomotion, in whatever direction it 
might prove to be, brought up against the side of the 
house, the impact rebound of which threw him back 
several feet. Painful to him, but ludicrous to witness, 
and most salutary in effect. Polico was never more 
disturbed by Jack, and they became good friends. 
And with Paris soon after Jack settled down in pleasant 
relations, though for some days it was amusing to wit- 
ness his fixed attention on that powerful machine which 
had given him a lesson in orbital revolution. 

Poor Paris died of old age, as well as Jack, and 
they lie buried near each other, beneath a neighboring 
tree, and my daughter and I often ask for a few leaves 
or sprigs from that tree to be sent us when we are far 
away. 

No wonder the heathen hunter, sought by zealous 
missionary for Christian heaven, on learning that his 



A Sportsman 269 

dogs could not go there, said he did not want to gain 
it ; or that the man experienced in Hfe's disappointments 
while not loving his own kind less, said, " I find the 
longer I live the more I like dogs." 

Jack was as faithful and devoted to my daughter 
as Paris to me, and the manner in which he would sit 
and regard her when she was occupied indicated that 
he considered her the most important being in ex- 
istence. Fond as he was of boating, he would never 
go unless accompanied by his mistress, and when in- 
duced to take his place with Paris, in expectation of 
my daughter's going, he would tumble out with alacrity 
at the last moment on finding she was not going. 
Jack exhibited his great fondness for my daughter, as 
well as his dislike of my camp-keeper, from his taking 
him away to the kennel enclosure occasionally, when 
we were going off upon an excursion where we could 
not well take him, and evinced his dislike by always 
barking at him when he came near, with an occa- 
sional tug at the bottom of his trousers. We left him 
several winters at camp when going to California, 
though sometimes carrying him out with us. When 
left he had from necessity to m^ake friends with Cush- 
man, after mourning for some days for his mistress. 
During these periods of waiting he evinced much fond- 
ness for his keeper, who allowed him to sleep at the 
foot of his bed, and to accompany him on his boating 
trips ; but as soon as my daughter returned, his hostility 
immediately appeared, and Cushman said it exhibited 
the basest ingratitude he ever witnessed. 



2 70 Reminiscences of 

THE likes and dislikes of dogs are more evident 
than between men, without attempt at conceal- 
ment. I have often noticed among my coursing grey- 
hounds this feature. It is necessary in coupling for the 
chase to consider this, or all will not go smoothly. 
In the excitement of expectation, if the greyhounds 
are not well mated, they will fall foul of each other, 
and in feeding it is often necessary to separate them. 
If well mated they will advance to the field in unison, 
and a well-mated couple will work together with a 
good understanding, the one falling in rear, taking an 
immediate lead on the doubling hare, as never but a 
couple are freed on a single hare, nor but one hare run 
at a time. 

It is amusing to see the intense interest taken by 
the dogs upon one entering the kennel area with the 
slips for coupling. How they close upon you, leaping 
over each other, and pressing alongside for the collar 
to be adjusted, which indicates an outing! These 
collars in pairs are connected with a short chain six 
inches in length, from which proceeds a leather slip 
of seven feet with a handle at the end for holding the 
couple of dogs ; and strong it must be, for the impatient 
dogs when working the field, and witnessing the start 
of a hare when they are not to be released in pur- 
suit, as another couple may have already been given 
the start, will pull along a man at his run, and if not 
well on guard, will sometimes pull away from him, 
though useless for overtaking the hare, connected as 
they are. The leather slips connections with the collars 
are hollow, having inside a stout cord which connects 
directly with the fastenings of each collar, which 
upon being pulled, instantly releases the two col- 



A Sportsman 271 

lars, which fall off, and the two dogs are free for the 
pursuit. 

Having a large grain field of several thousand acres 
on my place, enclosed about by a fence twelve miles 
in extent, where the land is pretty level, but rising on 
two sides moderately toward the centre, and where the 
opportunity of witnessing coursing is excellent, has 
led me to make many coursing excursions upon it, 
extending over a series of years. The plan followed 
is for the participators to pass in carriage or mounted 
along one of the roads, flanked upon each side, well at 
the head, by a man with a couple of greyhounds in 
leash. The dogs are alert and eager, with pricked-up 
ears and quick-turning heads, scanning about them 
for sight of hare. Their impetuousness is dijEficult to 
restrain, and no feeble or inexperienced hand should 
manage the slips, from which, collared, the dogs may 
break away together, or be too hastily freed. 

A hare bounds suddenly at one side, from its 
form, and the nearest couple of dogs is instantly 
freed, and go off like arrows in pursuit. Perhaps 
the hare has a good start — ^five or six hundred feet — 
and goes off in that bounding manner usual when 
disturbed by shepherd or farmer's dogs, a common 
occurrence, not enough to cause alarm, or even to 
give a dropping of the ears, which ply with motion. 
Interim those arrow-like forms are nearly approach- 
ing, and are coming on with before-unknown speed, 
and the hare, now warned by its projecting eyes, like 
those of the frog, which turn to the rear, redoubles 
his exertions with desperate efforts. But all in vain. 
The approach is faster than the running speed of a man 
if the hare was still. When the seizure is about to 



2 72 Reminiscences of 

take place — for it is seldom that one dog makes it on the 
first run — the hare, nimble in the art of doubling, turns 
from his course, to the right or left, while the leading pur- 
suer, impelled by the impetus of his greatest speed, is car- 
ried on ahead, giving the hare a gain in distance. Herein 
comes the play of the second dog, one of which is likely 
to be in the rear, who then takes the lead in pursuit. 
The first dog has gained a point in turning the hare, 
and may, if of superior speed, overtake the second dog 
and again secure another point in turning the hare, 
and may perhaps make the kill, or secure all the points 
from his superiority, and there may be a dozen of hare 
doublings before the kill. 

It would seem as if the greyhoimd were made 
especially for the outrunning of hare, so perfect is 
his build and adaptation, and it is a rare sport to 
see his pursuit of the fleet hare, which is immime in 
its speed against any other animal, though coyotes, 
which have great speed, though less than the grey- 
hound, have been often observed running the hare 
in the same manner as followed by a pair of grey- 
hounds. In two instances I have been present when 
a coyote was started up and soon brought to bay, 
for the greyhounds will take after anything that 
runs, excepting horses and cattle, and woe betide 
the farmer's dog straying across the field, with 
the hounds fresh on, especially in force, as we 
let them run loose together on the way home from 
coursing. 

In fetching a coyote up, the greyhounds will tackle, 
and, if strong dogs, can hold until more dogs come 
up, which are liberated in such event, and together 
will wear the coyote out, receiving many wounds, 



A Sportsman 273 

however, and in the two events I witnessed it was neces- 
sary to give the coyotes some final blows; for the 
coyote is a tough animal and most tenacious of life, 
and if full grown can put up a prolonged fight, and I 
have seen them when surrounded and bitten up for 
half an hour still give fight. 

I have one in captivity, which was secured in his 
infancy by being dug out from his maternal home, and 
was brought up with a litter of collie dog puppies at 
the farmhouse, and evinced a most friendly and play- 
ful disposition. 

The coyote's natural shyness was, however, shown 
in a degree over that of his puppy companions, al- 
though he would allow himself to be petted by those 
who gave him care and food. He was allowed to 
run about the farmhouse free with his young com- 
panions, but indicated a much keener appetite, and 
became somewhat of a nuisance in the dining-room, 
where he was allowed an occasional privilege. His 
disposition was very playful, and his gambols and 
pranks were most amusing. 

As he grew older and larger he ran freely about 
with the collie dogs, and even rendered aid in driv- 
ing the sheep about with them, and in one notable 
case, where a large flock were driven some twenty 
miles to another range, indicated considerable intelli- 
gence; but alas for confiding expectations! that very 
night upon arrival at the destination he signalized 
himself by visiting a neighboring ranch, and extin- 
guished the life out of sixteen fat turkeys. Not 
being immediately detected as the destroyer he sup- 
plemented his exploit the following night by slaying 

nearly an additional score. 
18 



274 Reminiscences of 

This escapade led to his discovery, and his being 
chained up, as altogether a too expensive sheep- 
herder, and his ignominious return was illustrated 
with a collar and chain and a free ride in the sheep 
wagon. 

The natural taste for killing and fresh blood, and 
his great success in the turkey line, were unfortunate 
for our pet, for as the salmo salar fisherman returns 
with pleasure to the capture of the Fontinalis, so did 
Dingo yield to the attractions of the barnyard fowl 
at home; and thus forever closed the youthful episode 
of his free range, and since, with the brief intervals 
of breaking away from his moorings, he has polished 
the hard ground from a central stake over an area 
of some forty feet in width, as his bright chain well 
attests. 

Adjacent, and sufficiently near for a hand-shaking, 
lives a large raccoon, similarly attired with collar 
and chain, and both are on friendly terms, excepting 
at feed time, when the experience of Jack, the 'coon, 
has induced him to insist upon having his meals 
served separately. 

This system applies also to the dogs, including a 
bull-dog and stag-hound, which suffer injury if too 
intent upon the development of their sniffing quali- 
ties about the lunch counter, and the cry of distress 
which occasionally goes forth from the neighborhood 
of the cold meats is far more amusing to the looker-on 
than to the wailing canine musician. 

In fact Dingo, now fully developed and most ex- 
pert in battle, is ready for a scrap at all times. It is 
his great enjoyment and he exercises his ingenuity 
to get dogs within the fatal circle of his domain. He 



A Sportsman 275 

will play with those who have the honor of his friend- 
ship, but woe betide any passing stray dogs, or those 
he is unfriendly with. 

The passing strange dog, be he large or small, is 
sure to become the matrix of Dingo's cast, and may 
at exit well murmur the reminding words of Addison : 
' ' Nature formed me of her softest mold. ' ' 

As a scrapper Dingo is the Jeffries of his arena, 
and will quit his food quickly for a rough and tumble, 
and although there are many dogs which could van- 
quish him, he has never yet encountered a canine of 
his mettle and power. 

Almost invariably, when he has broken his chain, 
he has immediately celebrated his freedom by an 
assault upon some one of the collies, and, while sev- 
eral will join in mutual defence, he will by his rapidity 
and dexterous action clear the field in short order. He 
will then return to the kitchen door for larder filling, 
and allow himself to be secured. 

He has never bitten any person. As to canine 
antagonists, he has often been seized at the back of 
his neck by fighting dogs, but invariably upon being so 
seized has turned his head with wonderful celerity, en- 
abling him to seize the lower jaw of the attacking dog by 
a grip of his own, which seems to be very discourag- 
ing to the latter, judging by the instant hold-breaking. 

Only once have we seen Dingo nonplused and 
distressed. This was on an occasion when, in a night 
foray, we had secured a very large female raccoon, 
which was secured alive by noosing out of an old 
hollow tree where she had a few young kittens, too 
young for saving. She was wild and ferocious, and had 
to be bound very securely. 



276 Reminiscences of 

As Dingo was so ready and eager for scraps, the 
'coon was brought out to him the following day and 
staked within easy limit, and when let go, flew for 
him, who was equally eager, and immediately fol- 
lowed an encounter of sanguinary ferocity difficult to 
describe. A 'coon, protected by its bountiful fur and 
rapidity of movement, is more than a match for any 
ordinary dog, and in weight — in this instance — ^was 
much more than Dingo's, but the latter was more 
alert than the 'coon, and provided with larger teeth 
and probable tenacity. Still, the 'coon was fighting 
for life and the loss of offspring, while Dingo was 
fighting simply for fun, and he soon obtained all he 
wanted, although no white feather existed among 
his holdings, and he worked himself up into a great 
fury. 

It was soon apparent that it would be a long-drawn 
contest, and for fear that Dingo might in the end 
receive serious injury, which looked probable, he was 
withdrawn from reach, although desperately deter- 
mined. That night the 'coon broke away, and has 
since been missing. 

Dingo seems never quiet, and is always on the 
move about his arena, circling around incessantly, 
and, although having a house of rest and refuge, seems 
never to occupy it or to be found sleeping. 

Often in the night his peculiar wild call breaks 
out in answer to other distant wild coyote calls, but if 
he breaks away by the breaking of his chain he is 
always found about again, and is secured. 

The coyotes are the great pest of the sheep busi- 
ness, and our loss from them annually amounts, 
over a long period, to from 200 to 300 head, although 



A Sportsman 277 

recently, by having a remarkably clever hunter and 
trapper our losses are less. 

We suffer correspondingly from adjoining town 
dogs, which are constantly shot at sight, and buried 
without monuments or head-stones. Signs are up 
warning against fetching on dogs, but the latter pay 
little heed to it and suffer in consequence. No matter 
how many coyotes are killed they never cease coming 
on, and sometimes four or five a week are destroyed. 

They are especially plentiful at lambing time in 
March, and, although they will not then often attack 
full-grown sheep unless they are disabled and sepa- 
rated from the flocks, are particularly partial to young 
lambs. The mother will face about toward the coyote, 
and as soon as she is distracted off a little, the coyote 
will dash in and carry off the lamb. In the lambing 
season the ewes are gathered loosely about in selected 
localities, and herded night and day, when occasional 
fires are kept burning at night and lighted lanterns 
are hung about, which excite the suspicions of the 
coyote, as he is very wary and cunning, and if left to 
his own free action, will destroy six or a dozen lambs 
to one of his eating. 

The coyotes can only be trapped by the exercise of 
great care, as they are more cunning and suspicious 
than foxes, but with trap and poisoned meat are 
tolerably well kept down, and are now of less damage 
than formerly. 

Wild-cats, though quite scarce, will occasionally 
appear, and one cat will frequently kill a dozen lambs 
before being itself killed. 

The great American bald eagle is also a destroyer 
of young lambs, but on appearance can generally be 



278 Reminiscences of 

trapped by putting steel traps on elevated poles where 
the eagles alight to survey the situation, and, although 
they often get away with a lamb or two, are pretty 
sure to be trapped. 

If undisturbed, they will do much injury upon a 
sheep ranch, especially at lambing time, when an 
eagle will easily carry off a lamb a few pounds in 
weight, and will often attack full-grown sheep, almost 
invariably striking the latter at the back or side of the 
neck. 

Three golden eagles lately attacked — acting in 
concert — a small flock of separated sheep, and before 
the herder could drive them away succeeded in seri- 
ously wounding half a dozen, three of which died the 
same day, and the balance within a week afterwards, 
either from the direct wounds or the almost invari- 
able blood poisoning which seems to follow when struck 
by the talons of the eagle. 

The same result often occurs with human beings 
when struck by eagle talons, and two of our men in 
past years, when taking eagles from traps, were 
wounded, one through the hand and the other in 
the thigh, and both were many days under the care 
of a physician for treatment. 

The one struck in the thigh had killed, as he sup- 
posed, a trapped bald-headed eagle, when his atten- 
tion was drawn to the mate of the trapped one, which 
swooped upon him several times most dangerously ; and 
while engaged in warding it off with his gun, he was 
hard struck by the dying eagle, which firmly imbedded 
its talons in his thigh, from which he could not dis- 
engage himself, and while so held succeeded in shoot- 
ing the mate. 



A Sportsman 279 

Afterward he was compelled to cut off the striking 
eagle's leg and carry it so to town, where it was re- 
moved, and for a long time he was laid off from work, 
and under medical care. 

There are three classes of eagles which attack 
sheep: the bald-headed, the large gray, and the 
golden, or black. The latter is smaller than the 
first two, stretching from wing tips about five feet, 
while the two first so stretch to an extent of from 
six to eight feet. 

The attack first referred to was by three golden 
eagles together. The method of attack is to fly 
over the retreating sheep, and from a height of about 
thirty feet make a swoop down at the neck of the 
sheep, and repeat such attacks until the sheep falls 
over, when the eagle descends and makes quick work 
in rending for his ravenous apetite. 

In this case of attack by the three eagles, their 
attacks were not confined to a single sheep, so that 
half a dozen were made victims, although the eagles 
by being followed and shot at by the herder failed to 
secure one for eating. One of the sheep which soon 
died had a large piece of flesh and skin torn from its 
neck down to the shoulder blade and its jugular vein 
cut, and quickly bled to death. The eagles flew away, 
upon being disturbed, to some neighboring trees, but 
were too wary to allow approach for shooting. The 
herder, however, being supplied with medicine pills, 
i. e. strychnine, of potent power for eagles, dogs, and 
coyotes — one half grain for the first, one grain for the 
second, and two grains for the third — soon had a large 
hare killed, which he cut up into numerous savory 
portions, all liberally impregnated with destructive 



28o Reminiscences of 

stimulants, which he exposed at a favorable place, and 
removed himself to a considerable distance where he 
could observe the scene. This would have been a use- 
less effort for the bald-headed or gray eagles, which are 
not known to return to feed a second time upon a 
carcass once fed upon, or when disturbed in feeding, 
but the golden or black eagles will return, and are often 
poisoned or trapped from returning. In this instance, 
after some time had elapsed, the three eagles that had 
occasioned so much destruction were seen to alight, 
one after the other, at the poisoned meat, which was all 
consumed by them. 

After this, and their circling about in the sky, one 
was observed to fall to the ground, and was found dead, 
while the others disappeared in the distance and were 
not seen afterwards, and undoubtedly died from the 
poison. 

While animals have a particularly keen sense of 
smell, birds are much lacking in this respect, and would 
seem often to be entirely without it, and the cunning 
crow is easily deceived by whisky-soaked com, and 
becomes so senseless as to be caught by hand, and all 
kinds of birds are easily poisoned by strychnined 
grain. 

But birds make up for this deficiency by an ap- 
parently abnormal keenness of sight, as witnessed 
particularly in the buzzards, which, flying at a great 
height — so high as to be invisible to human sight, — ^are 
speedily attracted by an exposed dead animal, even 
in a rocky field, where surrounding objects bear some 
resemblance to the dead animal. 

The eagle and hawk are very expert on the wing, 
and the hawk lives largely upon birds of quick motion, 



A Sportsman 281 

caught on the wing in the open, where they cannot 
gain the shelter of trees or bushes. 

The eagle is often observed swooping upon the 
fish-hawk, carrying off its prey in mid-air, frightening 
the latter to drop its burden, and catching the coveted 
prize before it falls to the ground. 

Our herders have often observed the eagle chas- 
ing a hare in the open fields, and catching it in its 
clutches despite its rapid doublings which so often 
trick an overtaking greyhound, and often while 
chasing on the doublings will strike over the hare 
senseless with a wing blow. 

It has been amusing to witness the eagle chasing 
a hare which has gained a fence line for protection, 
passing through the line from side to side more rapidly 
than the eagle can shift over, by which the hare has 
been seen to follow a fence line for a mile or so, and 
consume an hour of time, before a favoring clump of 
bushes, or trees, or brush heap afforded safe shelter. 

Since writing the above, I have received notice of 
two more sheep being killed by eagles, which have 
been unusually plentiful this season, and we have 
lately killed about fifteen. 

The coyotes have also been plentiful, and of late 
we have averaged, poisoning and trapping, five or 
six a month; and despite their plentifulness, we have 
suffered but lightly from them, owing to the watch- 
fulness of the herders, and now that the lambing 
season has commenced from about seven thousand 
ewes, we give particular care. 

This region on the foothills of the mountains, 
twenty miles north from Sacramento, so mild and 
pleasant in winter and free from ice and snow, is one 



282 Reminiscences of 

where myriads of birds congregate from the inclem- 
ent regions north — in fact, one where citrus products 
are grown in perfection, and where deciduous fruits 
are ripened earher than elsewhere in the United States, 
and early peaches and cherries are forwarded to 
Eastern markets from about here in May. 

Thousands of robins, larks, doves, quail, black- 
birds, linnets, sparrows, and an endless variety of small 
birds abound, large numbers of which remain through 
the year. 

The quail, all of the large mountain variety with 
head plumes, do not lie very well to the dog, and fly 
very swiftly, but fall readily enough to the quick 
shot. 

Duck and geese are also plentiful, and the latter 
have to be more or less herded off the grain fields 
in winter, where they alight often in large numbers, 
and if not disturbed will destroy many acres of grow- 
ing grain by feeding on and pulling out the young 
sprouts. 

I often take my greyhounds, coupled without slips, 
to accompany me when driving or riding, which they 
enjoy very much, and give pleasure in the contem- 
plation. They will, however, diverge occasionally for 
a speeding hare, which they cannot overtake when 
coupled, and will soon return from, and pay no atten- 
tion to a flock of sheep while passing through or by them 
while observed ; but let them once get out of sight with 
an intervening hill, or far in the rear, near a flock of 
sheep, and they will go for them as wild wolves 
might, and if not interfered with will mutilate dozens 
of them in short time. And think of Jack, my daughter's 
gentle fox terrier, who fell back with the greyhounds 



A Sportsman 283 

one day when they were coupled, as usual, and who 
lagged so that I went back with suspicions of mischief 
and found Jack as busy as any, holding down a large 
ewe, which he was evidently exerting himself to dis- 
embowel. I gave all big whacks with my stout stick, 
and knocked Jack senseless with a blow on the head, 
which I terribly regretted, as I thought I had killed 
him. But he revived after some time, and when I got 
the dogs back to the carriage, where my wife and 
daughter were, I observed that Jack seemed rather 
groggy, and lifted him for his mistress to carry, remark- 
ing that he appeared exhausted with his run. Jack 
never mentioned the occurrence, nor did I to my daugh- 
ter until some time afterwards, when she forgave me, 
since Jack appeared as lively as ever. 

One of my greyhounds, and one of the fleetest, was 
so beautiful, graceful and affectionate, that we made 
a house dog of her, Penelope by name, whose poses by 
the fireside were pictures of elegance, and we were all 
very proud of her, seemingly such a perfection of gentle- 
ness and intelligence. She had the full run of the prem- 
ises, and never seemed to stray off far. One day a 
shepherd reported that she had made her appearance 
in the early morning among his flock of lambs and 
killed eight or ten of them. We considered this very 
improbable, although his description of the killing dog, 
which he was not able to get a shot at, corresponded 
to that of Penelope. I interviewed her upon the sub- 
ject, but one glance of her gentle, loving eye dissipated 
any suspicions which had been aroused, and I told the 
shepherd he must have been mistaken, and that he must 
get his gun work in on the next killing. When I arose 
the next morning I found the shepherd waiting for me. 



284 Reminiscences of 

saying eleven more lambs had been killed during the 
past night and in the early morning, and that he was un- 
able to get a shot at the killing dog, but had distinctly 
traced it to my house, and that dog, lying now so peace- 
fully by the fire, was the one. Could it be possible? 
I examined Penelope, and alas ! on her breast in several 
places were blood marks scarcely yet dried, as well as 
woolly shreds, which too plainly indicated her guilt. 
Penelope again denied the accusation with outstretched 
paws and reproachful glance, but had afterwards to be 
relegated to the kennel enclosure. 

Another performance of Penelope had occurred, 
which certainly exhibited a reasoning power which we 
had overlooked, from its ingenuity and amusing charac- 
ter, of slight importance compared with lamb killing. 
Having the free range of the house, she discovered that 
the dinner table had a bread roll, wrapped about by a 
napkin, adjoining each dinner plate — a tempting morsel 
for her — and during the desertion of the dining and 
adjoining sitting room she availed herself of the oppor- 
tunity of taking one of the rolls — just one each day, 
and no more. The regular shortage of a roll each day 
at dinner occasioned remark, to which the butler as- 
serted that he regularly supplied the full complement. 
This occurring so repeatedly gave some wonderment 
at the mysterious disappearance of a single roll each 
day, as all asserted, each of us, we were not the 
cause. This brought it up to the butler, who put him- 
self, concealed, one day before dinner, where he could 
view the table, and was much surprised to detect 
Penelope in the act (when she supposed the coast was 
clear) of deftly removing one of the rolls, which she 
carried into an adjoining room, and quickly, as she 



A Sportsman 285 

supposed, destroyed all evidence, and then resumed her 
pensive and innocent attitude in front of the open fire, 
her favorite resting place. 

While town and farmers' dogs of all kinds will attack, 
mutilate and prey upon sheep, even their supposed 
best friend, the collie, brought up with them, will do 
the same thing — not with his master's own flock, which 
he will guide and protect with his life, but the sheep 
belonging to a neighbor, which the collie evidently con- 
siders beyond the pale of his protection. This is a 
fact well known to sheepmen, and denotes the inborn 
tendency towards destructive inclinations bom in so 
many animals — and by no means lacking in the supe- 
rior man, who has this inclination largely developed, 
however guarded it may be by reasoning — as indicated 
by the collie dog in selecting a foreign flock of sheep 
for his blood-craving taste, without sacrifice of his 
home loyalty. 

And who shall say that animals are devoid of rea- 
soning powers, or that dogs and the most intelligent 
animals are wanting in this respect? Admitting that 
such is a fact, it is for consideration if (in the inevitable 
progress of evolution, which, by the laws of nature, 
is irresistible) it is not reasonable to believe that ad- 
vancement may be made in developing that sense, 
as indicated in the superior animal, man, whose source 
may have been at some period more obscure than 
shown at the present time by the inferior animals. 
The period of man's evolution must have been very 
long, consuming, possibly, many himdreds of centuries, 
and it is only within a very few thousand years that he 
reached the level of intelligence requisite for him to 
mark rough hieroglyphics upon the face of time. But he 



286 Reminiscences of 

was endowed with remarkable physical advantages 
over any other existing animals, particularly in the 
essential of speech, and in the flexible arm and hand, 
without which his inferiority, compared with his present 
position, would be most striking. Added to this his 
long life, surpassing that of others, gave ample op- 
portunity for the storing of experience and its trans- 
mission largely to succeeding generations. 

And the all-important, animated element of soul, 
an existence of intelligence and reason, — by what 
adducible evidence shall it be denied to other intelli- 
gent animals? 

The dog has been the companion of man from the 
earliest historical records, and probably long before, 
and has in that experience gained advantages not 
allotted to other dumb animals, and, despite his want 
of articulatory organs, fully understands many words 
addressed to him in various languages, and if he had 
the power of speech would certainly respond in answer, 
so that his failure to do so is wholly from a physical 
defect. 

I have witnessed many remarkable instances of 
his> intelligence, and I am reminded particularly of the 
extraordinary ability of the dog Bozzie, a collie that 
belonged to Mr. Clason, of Chicago. The owner — a 
gentleman of position and character — ^has given much 
attention to breeding collies of superior intelligence, 
and had in Bozzie one of such surprising ability that one 
can hardly credit the results. This dog, bred from a 
line most intelligent, exhibited in puppyhood such re- 
markable docility and alertness that her owner gave 
particularly patient teaching, resulting in marvellous 
feats which would make one doubt his own senses. 



A Sportsman 287 

Bozzie was familiar with the alphabet and numerals, 
and would spell out correctly almost any simple words, 
and many of two syllables, and do simple sums in 
addition, subtraction and division, beyond the pos- 
sibility of trickery, and while her master is out of her 
presence. Being given, say, the number of seven, for 
instance, to add two and deduct three, Bozzie immedi- 
ately gives six barks ; and how much are five and three ? 
when eight barks are quickly given; divide ten by two, 
and five barks are returned. The element of telepathy 
or mind-reading is now a subject of scientific inquiry, 
and a controversy is now going on concerning it in 
some of the newspapers. Bozzie appears to be an 
adept in this particular, and if a number is written on 
a piece of paper — not to her master but concealed by 
the writer — she will immediately give the number of 
barks. 

Mr. Clason some time ago dined by invitation with 
President Roosevelt at Washington and was accom- 
panied by Bozzie, who excited the wonderment of the 
Roosevelt family by giving the ages of the President's 
children, by barks, correctly, upon being asked by each 
in turn, the questioners being instructed to keep men- 
tally in mind their particular ages. This would seem 
incredible were it not vouched for by witnesses. She 
would count, and give readily in barks, the number of 
persons present with her. One sceptic gave her as 
follows : Multiply two by five, then divide the amount 
by two, adding three and subtracting six, whereon 
Bozzie immediately gave two barks; and another 
the following: Divide eight by two, and this half by 
two, and the result again divide by two. Bozzie im- 
mediately gave one bark. And many other sums of a 



288 Reminiscences of 

similar character, to which the answers were correctly 
given, as well as the correct spelling of many words of 
one and two syllables. This seems incredible, but is 
said to be well vouched for. 

If this does not indicate intelligent reasoning, it 
would be difficult to say what it is that directs the 
dog's mind; and I believe in my own mind, that if intel- 
ligent dogs could be endowed by the power of speech, 
and longevity equal to man's, and have the flexible 
hand of man, which is an immensely valuable feature, 
they could be instructed as children are in language, 
reading, and writing, and in consequent evolution take 
rank above many of the degraded tribes of men who are 
accounted the possessors of immortal souls, which are 
by assumption denied to all the animals lower than man. 

Since I have written the above about Bozzie, I learn 
from correspondence with Mr. Clason that she has de- 
parted from earthly life, and that one of her descend- 
ants, Tess, now two years old, is almost equal in intel- 
ligence and action with her mother, and that a still 
younger offspring, one year old, Bozzie III., is exhi- 
biting an intelligence which the owner thinks exceeds 
that of any of her race. 

Now come the accounts of the wonderful horse, 
Hans, at Berlin, Germany, which is exciting much 
comment and scientific examination by experts, and 
whose picture has appeared in several illustrated 
journals of prominence. It is stated that this horse 
covmts readily up to one hundred, and will indicate 
a number correctly below that, by striking the floor 
with one of his front feet, and will do sums in 
arithmetic in complex numbers, and in fractions. It 
seems almost, if not quite, incredible. 



A Sportsman 289 

This Hans, a Russian stallion nine years old, jet 
black in color, with bright eyes, and small, expressive 
ears, which seem to act in responsiveness to his actions 
and attentiveness, has never been touched by a whip, 
and is as human in gentleness and affection with his 
owner and master as an animal could be, is rewarded 
for his intelligence simply by a judicious giving of 
carrots, of which he is very fond. He has never been 
publicly exhibited by his enthusiastic owner and in- 
structor, Herr Von Osten. Being given the name of 
the day, say Wednesday, he will readily strike four times 
with his right foot, for the day of the week, and being 
told that it is the twentieth day of the month, and be- 
ing asked what day of the month it will be a week after- 
wards, will strike twenty-seven times. From half a 
dozen pieces of cloth or paper of various colors, he will 
pick out and designate any particular one named by 
color. It is a simple feat for him to give the correct re- 
sult of adding several simple numbers together. He will 
give immediate answers to questions of how many times 
six will go into thirty, and what number of times 
six will go into eighteen, and what is the seventh 
part of thirty-five, and the answer of similar sums, 
of adding two numbers together, say four and five, and 
deducting six. And in vulgar and decimal fractions 
he seems quite at home, as in questions of this char- 
acter, and will answer how much must you deduct 
from four to obtain one and three- twelfths, giving first 
the whole number of two, and afterwards nine strokes 
for twelfths. This and many other arithmetic sums 
too numerous to mention. 

Had not Hans been submitted to the most critical 
examinations by scientific savants — the last being a 



290 Reminiscences of 

committee of Professor Haeckel, the most eminent 
biologist and critical expert known, Professor StumpfE 
of the Berlin University, and Professor Norenburg of 
the Prussian Ministry of Education, who coincided 
with all of the distinguished committees of examina- 
tions, that Hans clearly exhibited thoughtful and reas- 
oning powers, with remarkable memory — one might 
well doubt the statements made, and believe that Hans 
simply followed a fixed routine, or resorted to signs 
and aid from his master, but has proved to be entirely 
independent of him, and to pass the ordeal of examina- 
tion as triumphantly during the absence of his master 
as when he was present, clearly demonstrating that he 
understood the German language when addressed to 
him, and in no way depended upon the aid of any 
trickery or drilled memory. 

And if all intelligent and reasoning animals have the 
element of soul — and who can tangibly deny — ^where 
shall we draw the line? When we view the starry 
sky and observe the many millions of suns, many eclips- 
ing our own in magnitude, and by analogy having their 
subordinate satellites as ours, and actually showing 
them in a few instances, as that of Sirius and Procian, 
and by the spectroscope and prism showing such as 
have almost identically the elements of our sun and its 
planets, may it not be a reasonable conjecture that there 
may be countless worlds similar at least to our own in 
having elements favorable to animal and plant life? 
If it be so, and none can deny, may there not be many 
worlds possessing beings of intelligence and soul, pos- 
sibly far in advance of those upon our habitation, 
created by the immutable laws of nature which have 
created ours? And beyond our universe, in endless 



A Sportsman 291 

space, are seen, by telescopes of the greatest power, 
faint glimmerings of nebulas, which may yet be re- 
solved by increasing powers into universes as immense 
as ours, from which light moving with the velocity of 
electricity, sufficiently rapid to circle our earth seven 
times in a second, would require hundreds of years of 
time to reach our world. And beyond those glimmer- 
ing lights in endless space. What? We cannot affirm, 
and we cannot deny. We cannot solve the mysteries 
of nature; nor can we deny the Almighty power of 
creation in extent. 

Light, which arrives in eight minutes through the 
space of ninety -three millions of miles from the sun, and 
an hour from the most distant planet of our solar 
system, Neptune, which requires hundreds of years to 
make its orbital journey around the sun, which our 
earth completes in one, requires two or three years to 
reach us from the nearest fixed star in the sky, and if we 
could direct a new light from our earth or an electric 
message into space, it could only, in a hundred millions 
of years, have just commenced its journey through 
endless space, upon a route which would be illimitable. 

How little we know of anything beyond our immedi- 
ate reach! Of even our companion planets, or even 
of the moon our satellite, but a few thousand miles 
distant, whose features our scientists are not all agreed 
upon, and yet in our conceit we determine, without 
logical evidence, the distinctiveness of intelligence, 
reason, mind, and soul. We, the superior animals, 
are progressng from the identical natural source 
from which all living creatures have emanated 
and progressed under the immutable laws of 
nature. 



292 Reminiscences of 

CALIFORNIA is conspicuous for its variety of 
fishes, in its streams which abound with dis- 
tinctive kinds of trout, and in the Pacific waters which 
lie along the coast, where an endless variety of game 
fishes are to be found. 

It is somewhat annoying for the many lovers of 
the eastern trout to be informed that our eastern 
trout, technically speaking, are not trout at all, but 
charrs, and that the true trout must be sought for 
on the Pacific Coast, simply because it sheds its teeth 
from the vomer, which is the middle part of the roof 
of its mouth, as does the salmon, while the true trout 
in the form of its vomer differs from the charr, and 
preserves its teeth through life. For this slight 
difference the ichthyologists have seen fit to desig- 
nate our eastern trout as charr. It is natural that 
when the first settlers in America, familiar with 
the English trout (Salmo Fario), finding the carmine- 
spotted and brilliant-hued fishes with high game 
qualities, called them trout, though far more beautiful 
than the English, or those of German or Northern 
European regions, which are true trout in the scientific 
sense. 

Our eastern and central trout are correctly the Sal- 
velinus Fontinalis. It is considered by the most emi- 
nent authorities that the various trouts of the northern 
Pacific streams, the rainbow, cut-throat, steel-head 
and golden, all true trout, have descended from the so- 
called steel-heads, as well as the various lake trouts, 
the latter being similar to those of our eastern and 
central lakes, of dull color and brown spots. 

The steel -heads {Salmo Gairdineri), found in the 
various streams of the northern Pacific, take 



A Sportsman 293 

readily to salt water, as well as charr, and reach a 
maximum weight of twenty-five pounds and over, and 
are of high game qualities, and readily take the fly, 
as well as fresh bait. They are speared in large num- 
bers in some streams in the autumn, as they come in 
from the sea. The designation of steel-heads has been 
given from the lustrous steel coloring of the heads. 
Otherwise this trout is dull in color with brown spots. 
At the Carmelo stream below Monterey Bay they 
come in largely with the raising of the water from the 
autumnal rains, where they breed extensively, return- 
ing to the sea before the spring freshets are over. This 
stream exhibits the peculiarity late in the spring of 
clogging up its outlet to the sea in low water by an 
accumulative sand bank, through which the water 
seeps, making an entrance impassable for the passage 
of fish. Down in the stretches of pools so confined 
the young steel-heads are plentifully found of one and 
two years old, weighing from a quarter to half a pound, 
which afford good fly fishing. These young trout go 
out on the first rise of water, and grow rapidly in the 
sea. It is not uncommon when the first rains come, 
when the rise of the stream has not become sufficient 
to break the barrier of sand at the outlet, to see the 
steel-heads seeking a passage through the shallow water, 
and at times throw themselves bodily out on the sand 
in their eagerness to get through ; and when the water 
rises sufficient for passage, though still shallow, the 
spearers take their stand and secure sometimes large 
quantities of the trout by this barbarous method. The 
incident of throwing themselves out of the water on 
the sand where fresh water percolates through the 
bank is also observed with salmon on the Pacific, 



294 Reminiscences of 

showing the strong impulse of nature in this respect 
with the Salmo family, which must gain fresh water 
to renew its species. I have often observed in eastern 
waters the struggling efforts of trout to get through 
the shallow reaches of water over sand banks at the 
mouth of streams, and often observed trout working 
through when compelled to forward themselves on 
their sides, and have dug channels through the sands to 
facilitate their passage. 

The steel-head trouts are very plentiful on the Pacific 
coast, particularly at the northern rivers, where they 
ascend plentifully with the salmon at the spawning 
season. They are the largest trout known, perhaps 
being disputed in this respect by the cut-throat trout 
{Salmo Mykess), in Lake Tahoe between the States of 
California and Nevada, where they attain their largest 
size. 

The designation of cut-throat is given to this trout 
from its having a crimson or scarlet coloring on the 
membrane between the branches of the lower jaw. It 
is, perhaps, more extensively distributed over a large 
area than any other, though its markings to a consider- 
able extent are influenced by its local surroundings. 
It is plentiful in the north Pacific streams of Kamts- 
chatka, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, northern Cali- 
fornia, and in the streams on both sides of the Rocky 
Mountains, and in the Utah basin, and in Colorado, and 
more southern idstricts. The steel-heads are not, how- 
ever, esteemed so highly for food as the other trout, 
though very gamey. 

The rainbow trout (Iridius), a favorite in the Cali- 
fornia streams, is a plump silvery-bluish-colored fish 
with red lateral streaks. Structurally it is claimed to 



A Sportsman 295 

be dentical with the steel-heads, and it is claimed that 
when given access to the sea, its colors are changed 
more or less in conformity with the former, and a ques- 
tion exists which may have been the original parent of 
the other. In fact no fishes exhibit the characteristics 
of rapid change of colors, as affected by surroundings, 
like the trout. 

The golden trout, lately brought to notice, taken 
from a central California stream, is conspicuous for its 
bright golden color, and by some is claimed to be of a 
distinctive genus. I have not seen it, and its classi- 
fication will of course depend upon its structural form- 
ation, and not likely to be a new one, and will likely 
be classified with other known trout in the State, and 
possibly with the charr, Dolly Varden, which ap- 
proaches more than any other on the Pacific in its 
gamy qualities to the eastern trout. 

A charr (Salvelinus Malma) is also found on the 
Pacific Coast, a red-spotted, gamy fish, and a ready fly 
taker, known as the Dolly Varden. It is of gaudy 
color and a favorite, and although a charr, has been 
officially classified from the Smithsonian Institution of 
Washington in this instance as the Dolly Varden trout, 
and will so remain, charr as it is. 

This impulse of nature with the Salmo family to seek 
fresh water for spawning is pursued to a most ex- 
traordinary extent, and is fatal to millions of salmon 
annually on the Pacific Coast, while trout of less bulk, 
and adaptive agility, have slight loss in this particular. 

The salmon, however, not satisfied with reaching 
water sparkling with vitalizing life, pushes on as if 
impelled with necessitated urgency, as far as the 
stream extends, or until its strength is exhausted, for- 



296 Reminiscences of 

tunate or not, as it may prove, if it escapes the seines 
and revolving catch wheels of the canners, or the spears 
of the Indians, or the foray of wild animals which 
depend upon it for nourishment through many months 
of the year. In that mad rush of advance impelled 
by mutual desire, the salty waves at the estuaries of 
the streams are often incarnadined with the ruddy life 
blood from moving masses of salmon, set free by the 
propeller blades or revolving wheels of passing steam- 
ers; and, incredible as it may seem, these schools of 
moving salmon are at times so compressed across the 
surface of streams, near the outlets, as to hide the water 
from view, and if they could be so held, sustainable for 
foot passage, one could cross from one side of the stream 
to the other without wetting his feet. I have a picture 
of a pack of this character, taken on an Alaska stream. 

Upon the salmon entering fresh-water streams its 
first movements are in leisurely swimming about as if 
in enjoyment of the change of water; and at night — 
for it is a nocturnal fish as are all of the Salmo species 
— it commences its up-stream journey, which seldom 
exceeds two or three miles an hour, and on it goes 
upon its death excursion, as almost invariably 
experienced in the principal long Pacific rivers. In 
the Columbia River it ascends to the Spokane Falls 
from six to eight hundred miles, and in the Sacramento 
River four hundred miles, and up the San Joaquin 
River to the extent of its tributaries, some hundreds 
of miles, when they all, at least all of those which reach 
the upper waters, never return, and countless millions 
in ages past have thus perished, and will doubtless 
continue to do so. 

During this ascent, in the fresh-water stream, 



A Sportsman 297 

the salmon constantly deteriorates in quality, strength, 
color and form, as it receives no nourishment from 
food whatever, and the occasional incidents of its taking 
spawn, or a baited hook, have no bearing on its status. 

As they get on, their silvery hues, so conspicuous 
in the sea, fade away, and their flesh likewise loses 
its bright pink color, and its blood pales steadily, and 
those which reach the higher waters arrive in such a 
wretched condition that it may be doubted if many of 
them are fitted for the last act in the drama of the 
salmon, of emitting the spawn of reproduction. 

I have personally witnessed the condition and 
situation of these worn-out salmon, stranded in the 
upper waters of the San Joaquin River, stagnant with 
the decay of dead fish, where those surviving, mutilated 
from bruises, with worn fins and tails, and half blind, 
were listlessly swimming about in hopeless search 
for outlet. The banks of the pools were in places 
white with salmon bones and skins left by devouring 
animals, which had no difficulty in securing their prey, 
and attested by well-worn paths along the shores. 
Even the Indians spear such fish for food, patched 
with white fungus, and emaciated to the last degree. 
Salmon in this condition are in such a contrast with 
fresh runs that one can hardly recognize them. The 
jaws of the males grow longer and hooked at the ends, 
the back becomes humpy, and the scales disappear, 
and the belly shrinks away and becomes dark in color, 
and the stomach, so long disused, will be found 
shrunken away to the size of a man's thumb. It 
would not be possible for salmon in this condition 
under the most favorable situation to ever reach a 
state equal to the original. Salmon only partially 



298 Reminiscences of 

damaged, which find their way down to the salt water 
again from spawning beds but moderately distant 
from the sea, may possibly recover to a primitive con- 
dition; but I very much doubt it if their stay from 
the sea has been prolonged, for the inevitable result 
of stomach shrinkage is bound to occur, and an almost 
complete extinction of the stomach glands (pyloric 
coeca) and of auxiliary internal organs, 

Salmon fly fishermen are familiar with the black 
salmon which are found in Atlantic stream pools, 
which occasionally take the fly, having come down 
from the upper waters and mingled with the fresh 
runs. These are the salmon which have lain over a 
year in the stream, and are more or less blind, but 
have, some of them, sufficient vision to see and take 
the fly. These we know to be completely worthless 
for food, and they are thrown away, and if examined in- 
ternally will be found to be almost deficient in stomach 
and stomach glands, and we may feel rather sure 
that they can never be revived to a good form again. 

But as to those salmon, male and female, which re- 
turn to the sea from short streams the same season after 
spawning is over, it may be that they will recuperate 
to a good condition again. But it may be a question 
if they do, although we have no certain evidence of it. 

It might be cited that almost all of the enormously 
large salmon which have been taken, weighing from 
sixty to even one hundred pounds, have been marked 
almost invariably by some prominent features, especially 
in hooked jaws. From the large salmon I have seen, 
and the many casts in museums and other places, 
and particularly in the large collection of salmon casts 
made by the late Frank Buckland, of London, and in 



A Sportsman 299 

the extensive collection of salmon casts shown at the 
great fisheries exhibition in- London some twenty 
years ago, which was a marvel of its kind, I observed 
that the casts of all the large salmon were marked 
by the distortions of the maxillaries as shown in the 
fresh- water spawning life, with the lower jaw extended 
and hooked. 

Among the millions taken of the quinnat, or king 
salmon, in Oregon, at the Columbia River canning 
works, an occasional one, but very rarely, has been 
taken weighing up to one hundred pounds, and one 
frozen in ice, of eighty-two pounds, was sent on to the 
Columbian Exposition. As these large salmon are 
almost invariably males, the question arises if they had 
experienced the vicissitudes of river and spawning life, 
and were not survivors by some singular occurrence 
of incidents, and had missed the usual predestinated 
fate of salmon. 

The warfare which goes on between the males at 
the spawning beds, for the favorable consideration 
and possession of the attractive mistress of the 
spawning domain, are often severe in results, often 
causing the death of the defeated. When com- 
menced between two males, such combat continues 
until the complete defeat of one, when the conqueror 
is left in possession, until disputed again by a fresh 
arrival. As the males seem to predominate over the 
females, it can be believed that a champion male of 
good record must have a strenuous experience. In 
consequence of these conflicts, most of the males show 
the results, in loss of fins and portions of the tails 
and other mutilations ; for , the muscular powers of the 
salmon's jaws are great, upon which the fish depends 



300 Reminiscences of 

for all the mastication its food receives, and its seizure 
of small fish is confined to those which can be readily 
swallowed whole. The hooked jaws of the large salmon 
do not necessarily show that the possessors have had 
a river spawning experience, for the hooked formation 
is an accompaniment of age, as shown with trout. 

From the fact that the extra large salmon, of which 
I have seen many casts, have not shown loss of fins^ 
or parts of tails, or have exhibited other mutilations, 
such would seem to have escaped the river spawning 
experiences, unless the bone rays of the fins and tails 
have not by the process of nature been renewed. 
This is rather improbable, and tends to the opinion 
that these large salmon have escaped the river ex- 
perience, so fatal to those of northern Pacific waters; 
which critical application would not apply to the salmon 
inhabiting the shorter European streams, from which 
undoubtedly many salmon return to the sea after 
spawning season, of which data is not at hand for con- 
sideration. But that the northern rivers of the Pacific 
on the American coast, as well as those of the opposite 
Asian Kamtchatka waters where the salmon abound 
most plentifully, all, or almost entirely all, terminate 
most ingloriously their lives in the fatal season of repro- 
duction, is clearly indicated. 

That the salmon of the Pacific Coast, in a commer- 
cial sense, is far more valuable than all the rest of the 
Pacific fishes combined, or of all the salmon availed 
of elsewhere in the world, is indisputable. They 
abound in such numbers as to give the canners from 
California to Alaska a product of world-wide prom- 
inence. The humble and unambitious codfish must 
not be overlooked as of future great importance to 



A Sportsman 301 

the Pacific Coast, since those familiar with the subject 
say that the codfish grounds of the northern Pacific 
are as proUfic and non-exhaustible as those of the 
banks of Newfoundland. In this connection with 
fishes as a food product of the future, I am reminded 
of the able report on the North Sea Fisheries, read at 
the great Fisheries Exhibition in London, in which 
it was stated that, despite the greatly increased popula- 
tion of Europe, and the increasing consumption of fish, 
owing to the ready distribution of fresh fish by rail- 
roads, that the North Sea, which is the prominent 
European field of supply, was estimated to be able 
to furnish for consumption from three to five times 
the present demand, without likelihood of any notice- 
able exhaustion. This is cheerful information for 
those who are puzzling their brains with a fear of a 
demonstration of the Malthusian theory of over- 
population, which, at the present rate of increase of 
population the world over, is proceeding at a ratio 
which cannot long be sustained; still we have a good 
leeway, and until a thousand millions of human beings 
dominate the North American continent, and an equal 
number the Southern, and as many more in Africa, 
and a thousand million or so more for the open situa- 
tions of the world, we need not have apprehension, and 
we may reflect that the salt ocean alone could supply 
without exhaustion, at the present time, a weight of 
production equal to that daily consumed of various 
products by the human race. 

Of the SalmonidcB and its several genera found 
in the temperate and Arctic regions, the salmon 
is the most interesting and plentiful, and schools in 
the north Pacific in immense numbers, extending 



302 Reminiscences of 

down half way along the eight hundred miles of the 
California coast. The annual pack from California 
to Alaska represents an average of about eleven hun- 
dred thousand cases of forty-eight pounds to the 
case, and as three salmon on the average are required 
for a case, the number of salmon annually canned 
wotild amount to between three and four millions. 
The consumption does not seem yet to diminish 
seriously the supply, though the number packed va- 
ries considerably, sometimes running down to seven or 
eight hundred thousand cases and up to a million 
and three quarters of cases. 

Little progress has been made on the Pacific Coast 
in artificial propagation; although the ova or eggs 
of the salmon are detached and free at exudation, 
as with all the Salmo genera, there does not seem 
to have been any very successful artificial breeding 
of the salmon anywhere, despite all assertions to 
the contrary. In fact in Canada, where for years 
the artificial breeding of salmon has been pursued, 
it is claimed that no material advantages have been 
gained, and the subject is now one of controversy 
between two prominent fish culturists — Mr. Samuels, 
of Boston, in the affirmative and W. H. Venning, 
of Ontario, in the negative — and as Mr. Venning 
has been for many years a commissioner of the Can- 
adian fisheries, his arguments seem well supported, 
and his experience would seem to have much weight. 

Yet the importance of this subject is too great 
to be hastily summed up, and while the weight of evi- 
dence has been largely with Venning, that more late- 
ly given by Samuels, including the results obtained 
from the superintendents of half a dozen Canadian 



A Sportsman 303 

streams, covering a period of several years, indicates 
that the hatching out and increase of salmon at the 
several streams has been decidedly favorable. 

The success of artificial propagation of ova from 
a large variety of fishes has been so successfully in- 
dicated that it would be most unfortunate if that 
of the monarch of all fish, from a fisherman's point 
of view, should fail; and the apparent diminution 
of salmon, where hatching works have been estab- 
lished, is believed by some familiar with the subject 
to have occurred more from the persistence with which 
the seining of salmon has been followed, than from 
a failure in the artificial propagation. 

It is estimated that less than four per cent, of the 
ova naturally distributed by the female salmon is 
hatched out to successful life, owing to the various 
adverse conditions which surround the fish during its 
young life, while seventy-five per cent, of the impreg- 
nated eggs are hatched under the careful attention be- 
stowed at the hatcheries. The amount of ripe ova 
found in a matured salmon spawner is often of the 
weight of three or four pounds. 

Experience has shown that the liberation in free 
water of the freshly hatched salmon is almost in- 
variably fatal to its life, as it steadily falls a victim 
to other fish and the variety of water feeders which 
destroy it. If retained in proper receptacles, how- 
ever, and properly fed until it is five or six inches 
in length, it is found to take good care of itself and 
have favorable prospects of reaching maturity. 

The salmon of the Pacific, singular to say, do not 
take the artificial fly so readily taken by those of 
the Atlantic. They will take it if trolled under 



304 Reminiscences of 

water when they are feeding, as they would a spoon 
or even a rag, as they will any small object moving 
from, or by them, and I have several times, when 
trolling for them with fresh fish bait, had my leaden 
sinkers taken off by them. 

Among the Pacific salmon there are five varieties, 
classified one hundred and fifty years ago under the 
head of Oncorhynchus, by Steller, an eminent Russian 
scientist, which designation has abided. 

These salmon are distinct from the Atlantic 
salmon (Salmo Salar) in some minor particulars. 
The Pacific salmon has from fourteen to twenty bone 
rays in the anal fin, to nine or ten in the Atlantic. It 
has more gill rakers, larger scales, and has more or less 
of brown spots about the head and back. It has the 
usual silver white color, but at the head a peculiar 
lustrous steel color, as one might suppose to come from 
burnishing a metal of mixed lead and silver, a pale olive 
cast peculiar to this fish. This description applies 
to the principal salmon, the Chinook or king salmon 
so plentiful, and more extensively used in canning than 
any other. This salmon at the Columbia River has an 
average weight of twenty-one pounds, while the same 
fish from the Sacramento River averages from sixteen 
to seventeen pounds. 

Of the four remaining Pacific salmon the blue-back 
(0. Onerka) is the next important for canning, mod- 
erate in size, averaging from five to eight pounds, 
being of red color and good flavor. This salmon 
is prominent at the Fraser and Yukon rivers, and 
ascends to the limit of those streams, and is domes- 
ticated more or less in Lake Whatcom, hundreds of 
miles from the sea in Washington, where it is always 



A Sportsman 305 

found, though diminished in size and less attractive 
in form and flavor then when fresh from the sea. 
When young it has a few black spots, which disappear 
later on. 

The silver salmon (0. Kisutch) is still smaller than 
the blue-back, weighing from three to eight pounds, 
of good flavor when fresh from the sea, but not ac- 
counted of value in canning. 

The dog salmon (0. Keta) averages about twelve 
pounds in weight, frequenting the northern rivers, 
and is worthless for canning or consumption, though 
eaten by the Indians, who are not at all particular 
about the character of their food. It is of a dull 
silver color, with small black spots, and as it advances 
in age its jaws grow much out of regular line. 

The last variety of salmon is the humpback (O. 
gorbuscha), the smallest species of all the salmon, 
weighing from three to six pounds, of bluish silver 
color, with plentiful small black spots. Its back is 
more or less humped, from which the name is given. 
Its meat is of inferior quality and, with the dog 
salmon, it does not make the spring run up the north- 
em streams; and, small as it is, becomes more dis- 
torted in form and jaws than the dog salmon. Both 
of these are moderate in extending up the streams, 
and are noted for their peculiarity of locating for 
spawning in very shallow water, where they often be- 
come stranded and readily fall captive to the Indians 
and wild animals. 



3o6 Reminiscences of 

THE salmon for canning are taken principally in 
seining, although in late years large water-wheels 
have been erected in favorable places on river banks 
where the currents are rapid and where salmon run, 
which, revolving by the currents, take up at times 
large quantities of the salmon heading up stream, 
and in some instances have scooped up immense num- 
bers, which by an arrangement of the wheel slide 
into an adjoining compartment, and catches of a single 
night have been made of a number of tons in weight. 
Spearing by the Indians and scooping up with large 
hand nets are also followed to a large extent. 

Most sportsmen will agree that, tempered with ex- 
perience and surroundings, they have a favoring, be- 
tween fishing and shooting, for one over the other; 
commencing with the extremity of boyish enthu- 
siasm in the catching of minnows and small fish, 
and the knocking over of sparrows, they advance in 
more fixed preferences. I will own that, although 
I have had some experience in the shooting line, 
my preference is for fishing, which I have followed 
more assiduously than shooting. 

In 1892, in the month of June, when at Monterey 
on the California coast, a hundred miles south of 
San Francisco, and visiting the hauls of the market 
fishermen, as brought in principally by Italians and 
Portuguese, I was interested in observing more or 
less salmon brought in, which had been taken with 
baited hooks on strong cotton handlines. This inter- 
ested me so much that I accompanied some of the 
boats which left at an early daylight hour, and as a 
school of salmon had come into the bay, I saw a num- 
ber of them taken, which was a revelation to me. 



A Sportsman 307 

These fishermen were on hand for any edible fish 
which might come along, sinking or trolling, as the case 
might be, for cod, blue-fish, barracuda, and flounders, 
or for mackerel, sea bass or salmon. Their fishing 
was entirely with cotton handlines, using small fresh 
fish for bait, which abounded in plentifulness. 

I was strongly affected in contemplation of the field 
before me, and will give an account of my experiences 
in this remarkable arena, where the sportsman's king 
of fishes, the salmon, could be taken in full vigor in 
the open sea, lustrous and eager in the pursuit of its 
natural food, undiminished by the abstinence and 
confinement incidental to river pool life, at the com- 
mencement of the long fast which ordinarily ter- 
minates its existence. 

To see these vigorous, combative monarchs of the 
Salmo family brought up along side of the boat, swerv- 
ing in the pull, from side to side, by powerful strokes 
of tail, and never ceasing in their fighting gameness, 
even when struck by the cruel gaff, with its following 
of spurting ruddy life's blood, or until the fatal brutal 
head blow given in the boat. 

Ignoble and inglorious this ending of the silver- 
spangled warrior of the deep sea, whose speed through 
the crystal waters equals that of the dolphin, or any 
denizens of the sea — equal almost to that of the 
fleeting hare on land. To see this sparkling form 
in fresh fulness, in the last tremulous throes of death, 
seemed a sorrow. Still, perhaps, it was better to die 
thus in perfection of life and action than slowly to 
perish from exhaustion and mutilation in a stagnant 
pool, or, blind and bloodless, gasp in starvation amid 
the whirling eddies. 



3o8 Reminiscences of 

I saw enough to fire my hope and expectations, 
and from the city I obtained two bamboo bass rods 
of good strength, with large multiplying reels having 
rubber thumb pads, with six hundred feet of twenty- 
thread linen lines and suitable hooks. The bamboo 
rods I soon smashed up, but they lasted with repairs 
and lashings until I secured by telegraphing to New 
York for several six-and-a-half -foot steel trolling rods 
with agate line runners, weighing ten ounces. These 
I found most appropriate, and capable with careful 
handling for all the salmon I caught, and with one I 
handled successfully a ninety-pound shark, which 
after some time I brought to gaff. 

I engaged a good-sized fishing boat, applicable for 
sailing, and two men, fishermen and old whalers, 
and in the next three months I made forty fishing 
trips, almost invariably leaving my lodgings before 
the clear dawn, rising generally at four o'clock in the 
morning ; and from my trips I secured over five thou- 
sand pounds of salmon from trolling — a record I can 
never expect to duplicate (nor have any particular 
desire to), as the season of 1892 for profusion of sal- 
mon at Monterey Bay has never been equalled since, 
and in a few of the intervening years only a moderate 
number have been found there, with following good 
years. 

I have followed the salmon trolling there moder- 
ately during the years since, and expect to do so 
again, but have only met with moderate success. 
The feature shown there is comparatively unique, in 
the finding of salmon which eagerly take fresh fish 
bait in the open sea, not known of in other waters 
than the Pacific, though very rarely salmon have 



A Sportsman 309 

been caught in European waters with spawn bait. 
This may be accounted as a compensation by the 
Pacific salmon for the non-taking of the artificial 
fly, so universal with its Atlantic and European pro- 
totype. Nor is there on the Pacific Coast any such area 
of profusion of bait-taking salmon as that stretch- 
ing over a distance of fifty miles from Santa Cruz 
and Monterey to Carmelo. At Puget Sound, and 
at the mouths of the Columbia and Eraser rivers, 
the salmon likewise take bait in the sea; but more 
incidentally on their passage to the rivers, without 
abiding for weeks as they do off Monterey, and be- 
fore the ova has advanced toward the voiding con- 
dition as with those salmon seeking passage up the 
rivers. 

In fact, the salmon coming off Monterey are more 
behind those seeking spawning beds. They have sim- 
ply followed their food supplies from some sea depth. 
It is a very interesting sight to witness the coming in 
and arrival of the small fish and squid, accompanied 
by myriads of predatory birds, who now welcome the 
harvest days long waited for, which unite them from 
their before-scattered locations, in clouds composed 
of many thousands, animated by a common impulse 
for deglutition and destruction, exponents of the 
creatures of nature, to kill and devour. The small 
fish coming in the summer and the early autumnal 
months into and adjoining Monterey for spawning 
are largely anchovies and sardines. These fishes 
are about the size of herrings, though there are two 
sizes of the sardines smaller than the regular ftill size. 
These come in countless numbers, as well as the an- 
chovies, swimming near the surface, and often cover 



3IO Reminiscences of 

acres in extent; and also the squid, a miniature octopus 
in appearance, soft and boneless, which come in 
prodigious quantities, and, keeping at the surface 
more than the small fish, are more easily captured 
by the sea-birds, although they seem the favorite food 
not only of the birds, but of the salmon and a dozen 
other kinds of fishes, as well as of seals and sea-lions, 
but the quantity is so immense that little impression 
is made upon them, or even upon the anchovies and 
sardines. These schools can be observed a long dis- 
tance off in a clear sea, though not immediately at 
the surface, by the reflection of their color. 

Nor should we fail to observe that all fish life ex- 
isting in both salt and fresh waters owes its existence 
to an article of food which is invisible to the naked eye : 
to the endless variety and extensiveness of the animal- 
cules and protozoa which the infantile fish, whether 
supplied with umbilical sac or not, depends upon for 
its first growth. This furnishes another exhibition 
of the automatic revolution of the water supplies. 

The squid is too delicate and tender for salmon bait, 
although the stomachs of the captured salmon show 

Note by the Editor of The Sportsmen's Review: It may properly 
be mentioned here that Mr. Whitney received the credit of first exploiting 
and giving to the public the proper methods of taking the Pacific salmon in 
the sea, in a sportsman-like and artistic manner with a light trolling rod 
and fine line, as accorded to him by the prominent California newspapers, 
also in foreign sporting papers and journals. His descriptions, given out 
in 1892, had wide circulation among foreign sportsmen, being translated 
and published in several languages. The New York Forest and Stream, 
referring to him, said: "Salmon fishermen the world over owe a debt of 
gratitude to him for his extremely interesting accounts of sea fishing for 
salmon on the Pacific Coast. Though that fishing has been known for 
years to a limited number of anglers, he has been the first one to exploit 
the sport in adequate description for the benefit of the guild, and may 
fairly lay claim to the discovery. Others may have known of it as the 
Norsemen knew of America, but he has been the Columbus to proclaim 
his discovery to the world, and to command for it the attention it de- 
serves. " 



! 



A Sportsman 311 

more squid than anything else. It is a repulsive- 
looking object, yet is accounted by many of the Portu- 
guese and Italian fishermen as a great delicacy, and 
is served up fried in some of the San Francisco res- 
taurants. By the Chinese it is considered very good, 
and until late years, when the fish commissioners have 
forbid it being taken with nets, was hauled in and 
dried by the hundreds of tons and shipped to China, 
where it was accounted a leading luxury. 

The objections of the fish commissioners were not 
founded upon a fear of diminishing the supply, but 
more from the general protests of residents about the 
Chinese coast fishing grounds, as the odor from acres 
of sun-dried squid was particularly offensive. 

The method of securing the squid followed by the 
Chinese was by netting at night. The squid was 
attracted by displaying lights from boats, about which 
the squid would cluster, whereupon other boats would 
circulate around with large purse nets, and secure 
immense hauls. 

I have seen these squid stretched out on the surface 
of the sea for over half a mile in length, and over- 
cast by such clouds of muirs, shags and various fish- 
eating birds as to be uncountable, and I have often 
estimated as many as ten thousand birds of this 
character on and hovering about a single field of squid. 
Some of these birds will gorge so thoroughly as to be 
incapable of flight, and if pursued in a boat can be 
knocked over with an oar, and when pursued will 
often disgorge as followed until they are able to rise 
from the water. 

On my first excursion out, from an early hour until 
10 o'clock I was very fortunate in taking in eleven 



312 Reminiscences of 

fine salmon, which weighed nearly two hundred 
pounds, the smallest being a grilse of eight pounds 
and the largest twenty-four pounds. It is needless 
to say that I followed the fishing with eagerness, 
making an excursion out about every other day, 
generally finishing up before noon, but two or three 
times I was out all day when the salmon were very 
plentiful, making notable catches. It was seldom — 
not more than two or three times out of forty-odd 
trips — ^that I failed to fetch in salmon, so one can 
see that the fishing condition was most remarkable, 
and no season since 1892 has shown its equal. My 
largest catch when out a whole day, which occasion 
I more fully refer to hereafter, was twenty-nine sal- 
mon, weighing 512 pounds, averaging a little over 
seventeen pounds, my smallest salmon that day 
weighing eight pounds and my largest thirty-eight 
pounds. I carefully weighed all the salmon I caught, 
the total number being 320, and the total weight 
being 5231 pounds. The largest salmon was fifty- 
four pounds, which I had no particular difficulty 
in fetching to gafi, excepting in the time given. The 
short steel ten-ounce rod is a very efficient one, and 
will bear a much stronger strain than a heavier bam- 
boo rod, especially when a heavy fish sulks below 
the boat — and it is the disposition of sharks to do this 
more than salmon. 

The small-sized sharks in Monterey are very plenti- 
ful, the larger portion of them being imder twenty 
pounds in weight, which can easily be brought in, 
although there are many which weigh from a hundred 
pounds up, and when one of these is struck it is 
better to let him go, after securing all the line possible. 



A Sportsman 313 

Two of the largest sharks known in any waters 
are occasionally seen off the bay — the whale shark 
and the basking, weighing tons. The former is seen 
rarely, but the latter often. Neither of these is 
known as a man-eater. 

It is necessary from the Monterey pier to row off 
two or three miles to reach the salmon, and some- 
times farther, and the sea is not always smooth, 
oftentimes too rough for those inclined to sea-sick- 
ness, and the mornings are generally foggy, but clear 
up before noon, when the prevailing west wind comes 
up, which enables one to sail back to the pier. 

It is necessary ordinarily to sink the baited hook 
from thirty to forty feet below the surface, and some- 
times lower. This requires a sinker of four or five 
ounces in weight to keep down the hook, when rowing 
the boat at a speed of about a mile and a half an hour. 
I found the sinker an inconvenience in the free playing 
of the fish, and devised a method to free it by fast- 
ening it to a short piece of extra line, which I attached 
to my main one, by a peculiar bow-knot, thirty or 
forty feet from the hook, so that I could detach it 
by a hard pull, as I reeled in after the strike; as the 
salmon when first hooked at a depth almost invariably 
remains below for a while, without commencing its 
wild runs away, which occur when thoroughly alarmed 
at being brought up near the surface. The first 
action is generally of violent head-shaking to detach 
the irritating hook, and by this head-shaking, communi- 
cated along the line and rod to the fisherman, he is 
aware of a salmon being on, rather than another fish, 
and as he immediately and steadily reels up, the bow 
line-attachment of the sinker is brought alongside of 



314 Reminiscences of 

the boat, and quickly removed by one of the boat- 
men. But not always does this method succeed, as 
the salmon may be off before it can be accomplished 
and the sinker in such case may remain, clogging the 
free runs, until the last one. 

I devised a much better method later on for throw- 
ing off the sinker. My steel hooks of three quarters 
of an inch spread at the bow, and long shanked, I 
had soldered on to a stout brass wire of four inches 
in length, and this connected by two more pieces of 
similar wire and length, by stout brass swivels. My 
four-ounce leaden sinkers, round and tapering at 
each end, and having a hole through lengthwise, I 
strung over on a not overstrong cotton string, and 
caught up the lower end of one of the brass links 
below, connecting it with the one above by the cotton 
string carrying the sinker. The string was strong 
enough to carry easily the pull of the trolling bait, 
but would break and drop off the sinker by the strike 
of the salmon and leave my line free. The loss of 
the sinker would, of course, occur, but was of slight 
importance and value. 

As the hooked salmon approaches the light at the 
surface, and has been unable to throw off the hook, 
his alarm is much increased, and he starts out with 
great rapidity in some direction opposite from the 
boat, and with an impetuosity impossible to speedily 
check. It may be two or three hundred feet, or 
more, before the hard-pressed reel pad on the line and 
the strain of the rod almost surely incline the head 
of the fish to one side or the other, which being once 
accomplished practically settles the successful take; 
for the salmon, once being turned from a straight 



A Sportsman 315 

course, must thereafter yield to the boat in a circUng 
route, from which he can hardly escape, carrying 
in addition to the rod and reel strain that of dragging 
the line across the waters. 

Should a large salmon — say of twenty-five pounds 
weight or more — ^go directly away from the boat without 
being diverted, it would most likely run out all the 
line and part it, as occurred in two instances during 
my experience. But the severe strain which can be 
exerted from the reel and rod is almost sure to divert 
the fish from its apparent fixed purpose of getting 
away as far as possible from the boat on the route 
it first determines upon. A sufficient pressure can 
be put upon the thumb pad of the reel to part the 
line, or tear out the hook if not firmly placed. A 
danger also exists from the overrunning of the line 
if the drag is not judiciously applied; also from the 
line's sinking in the balance of line on the reel when 
too much pressure is applied, particularly when 
the line has not been firmly and evenly reeled in 
before, from which cause an entanglement takes 
place and the salmon is almost surely lost. 

A large shark occasionally takes the bait, too large 
for handling, and taking to the bottom cannot be raised 
by any strain from the rod, and has to be cut away. 
A variety of other fishes will also often take the bait, 
although if the salmon are present in force they will 
take the bait almost exclusively. Among those mostly 
taken while salmon trolling are the rock cods, from 
four to twelve pounds in weight, which, unlike those 
of the deeper offshore waters, of the usual color, are 
a handsome fish varying in many degrees of red and 
brown, and are excellent eating. Next most plenti- 



3i6 Reminiscences of 

ful are the so-called blue-fish, not to be classed with 
those of the same name on the Atlantic Coast, being 
shaped like the cod, excepting flatter, and good eating. 
The small sharks are a great bother, plentiful and 
worthless. Sometimes a school of large mackerel 
is struck, from which a number may be taken, weigh- 
ing from two to four pounds. Also a school of sea 
bass, not the striped, introduced in late years from 
the Atlantic waters, but the indigenous silvery bass, 
which run from fifteen to sixty pounds, and afford 
good sport from their gamy qualities, fighting hard 
for five or ten minutes, but passive when yielding. 
These are highly esteemed for market fish. They 
are not generally struck with the salmon, but by 
themselves apart, and more often about the beds of 
kelp, and when found may be well followed up for 
sport, and a good score may be made from them, as 
a school is often extensive. 

Yellowtails come in later in the season, running 
from ten to thirty pounds, which are very gamy, but 
not applicable for food. The leaping tuna is also 
an occasional visitor at Monterey Bay, and it is a 
great sight to see a large school of these moving rapidly 
forward on the surface of the perhaps rough water, 
breaking and splashing the waves with their power- 
ful tails, leaving a wake of foam and commotion. 
They are, however, very rarely taken in the bay, 
as they frequent the waters south more plentifully, 
particularly at the Catalina Islands. 

I had the good fortune on one occasion, when a 
school was about in Monterey Bay, to take one of 
sixty pounds, which gave me great play, and which 
at several moments I expected to lose when brought 



A Sportsman 317 

to the extremity of the Hne, but it fortunately turned, 
enabling me each time to take in slack, and I finally 
brought it to gaff after half an hour's fight. On the 
same day my hook was taken, evidently by a still 
larger one, that made a straight run off, carrying 
away all my line with startling rapidity, upon whom 
my attempts at checking up made no impression. 

Off the Catalina Island — ^which lies a few miles 
from the California coast opposite Los Angeles — the 
tuna is oftentimes found in profusion during the 
summer months, and is undoubtedly the largest game 
fish in the sea, and is often found much larger than 
the ability of a rod fisherman can possibly overcome, 
running up to several hundreds of pounds, and even 
a thousand pounds has been given as a maximum. 
When struck it goes off with great speed, with occa- 
sional leapings from the water, and slashes about in 
a manner indicative of great power. The favorite 
bait used at the island is the flying-fish, employed 
with a special rod and reel, and a thousand feet of 
line. A tuna of two hundred pounds may be ac- 
counted as the limit, and requires several hours of 
hard work to fetch in. It is in reality a huge horse 
mackerel, and worthless for food, and is thrown away 
for the sharks and other fishes to consume. 

The jewfish, or large black bass, is plentifully 
caught also at the island, and, being of less fighting, 
qualities than the tuna, is brought in weighing sev- 
eral hundred pounds, after hours of dull, heavy work 

The yellowtails are more plentiful about the Cat- 
alina Island than elsewhere, and although worthless 
for food are perhaps the very gamest fish in the sea 
for their size, and run up occasionally to fifty pounds. 



3i8 Reminiscences of 

At Monterey Bay they are frequently found, and he 
who gets one on his troUing hne will have the liveliest 
work of his experience ; and, as with the tuna, it is full 
of irregular actions, and unexpected turns, and may 
suddenly, when apparently bound for some distant 
clime, come with a rush for the boat faster than one 
can reel up, and double on the line and mix itself 
up in a most unusual manner. 

Monterey Bay is certainly a most attractive area 
for the fisherman's sport, and without the salmon 
his chances are most favorable in trolling to strike 
some fish which will give him delight. It may be 
a shark or a sea bass, or a barracuda, blue-fish, or cod 
or flounder. Perhaps he will strike a school of 
mackerel, from which he can take in a score or more. 
It is estimated that in the bay there are over a 
hundred varieties of fishes, and it is not uncommon to 
see a whale in the offing, or perhaps within a few 
hundred feet of a boat, as I have seen them as near 
when trolling. A young one of twenty-five feet in 
length made himself unusually familiar for several 
days in the cove of the bay a mile out from the pier, a 
place popular with the ground fishermen, whom he 
alarmed with his pla3rful ways, and one day bumped 
roughly against one of the boats, and was shot at a 
number of times, which he resented by taking his 
departure. 

The grampus, belonging to the whale family, are 
quite common in the bay, and have frequently an- 
noyed me when salmon trolling by their familiarity, 
coming up and diving near my boat, particularly one 
of them, which made his rendezvous off the shore in 
a locality I usually passed over on my way to the 



A Sportsman 319 

outer salmon grounds, and where I had been taking 
a salmon occasionally as I passed by. His presence 
in that locality was sufficient to retard the free action 
of the striking salmon, as they shy off from the im- 
mediate proximity of large fish, which are presumed 
to be destroyers; and this grampus, it seemed to me, 
indicated a conspicuous intention of waylaying my 
boat each time I passed, and would throw himself up 
out of the water sometimes alarmingly near, almost 
threatening my boat's safety, so near that he could 
almost be touched with an oar. 

It was not very pleasant for an immense cetacean 
of this character, of from twelve to fifteen feet in 
length and weighing over a ton, to come up within 
ten feet of the boat in his porpoise-like frolic, how- 
ever friendly might be his disposition, and I made an 
inward vow to look after him shortly, and accord- 
ingly went out in a following afternoon equipped 
for him with a large sailboat and my two men, a 
whale harpoon and rope, and a musket carrying an 
ounce ball. We found him in his usual locality, and 
soon had him come up within fifteen feet of the boat, 
and I cast my harpoon at him with all the force I 
could muster; but my want of experience in this line 
was limited and I failed to fasten him, and he gave 
no further opportunity for a good cast, keeping too 
far away, and after an hour's effort. I concluded to 
give him a shot from the musket. This I did as he 
rose some fifty feet off, aiming at his head. I heard 
the ball strike him, and he disappeared. Little ex- 
pectations I had of seeing him more, though we tacked 
about for half an hour, but saw no further rises from 
him, and turned homeward. Looking aft as we 



320 Reminiscences of 

proceeded on, I saw what I thought to be a red blanket 
floating on the surface of the sea not far astern, and 
drew the attention of my men to it; a veritable red 
blanket it seemed, but my men said immediately 
it was the blood from the grampus, and we put back 
towards it, and shortly saw the grampus come out 
and down, not far off. As I observed him when he 
came up I distinctly saw the blood running down the 
side of his head, and again and again he came up and 
down, still bleeding. This indicated a severe wound, 
and the grampus by its slow movements convinced 
us that its end was near. With harpoon ready we 
followed close, and I soon had a close approach as he 
came up, and put the harpoon in successfully, when, 
allowing a good slack, we warped the rope around 
a post in the bow of the boat, and went off at good 
speed, with a crest rolling wave at our bow. We 
found he had much strength remaining, and kept 
up his brisk gait for ten or twelve minutes, when his 
speed diminished, and soon after gave out entirely, 
and his huge body floated on the surface. We waited 
for his death flurry, but it did not come, and we hauled 
our boat up to him and fixed a noose line over his 
broad tail, and set sail with a fair strong breeze to 
the Monterey pier. 

Quite a number of bathers from the Del Monte 
were in at the beach watching our approach when 
we landed from our boat. Our grampus was grounded 
some thirty feet from the shore, and all joined us in 
the haul ashore, making an advance with our grampus 
with each successive lifting wave as it rolled in. But 
the united force was not sufflcient, with more than a 
score of pullers, to get the body clear from the water. 



A Sportsman 321 

and the finale occurred when the last grand pull 
took place, which broke the rope, and sent all tumbling 
down on the sand. The tail end of our victim was 
well out, however, and the retreating tide soon left 
him clear. I gave him to my men, who tried out two 
barrels of oil from him. We estimated his weight 
as a little rising from a ton. His black, glossy hide, 
for he had a veritable hide, was tough and thick, and 
almost impervious to the penetration of a knife blade. 
He had a few blunt teeth on his lower jaw, two inches 
in diameter, but no others. My ball had penetrated 
by chance a large blood vein, cutting through to the 
lungs, which was fatal. 

The grampus is not a fish, but a warm-blooded 
animal of the sea, kindred in family with the whale, 
killer, walrus, porpoise, dolphin, etc. Its food prin- 
cipally consists of small fishes, and the occasional 
large class, as salmon, cod, flounders, etc., when good 
fortune attends his comparatively slow movements. 

Another animal of the sea of the grampus family 
which I had experience in meeting, of which little is 
known by the general public, is known as the killer 
{Orca Gladiator of the genus Orcinus). This is the free- 
booter of the sea, the pirate, the terrible; ravenous 
and ferocious, and of desperate courage. As the wolf, 
it fights in packs, and nothing in the sea can with- 
stand it, when united with others in contest. The 
mighty whale, the largest animal of nature on earth, 
succumbs to the united efforts, and the wonder is 
that even they can exist. 

It is no idle tale I shall relate of them, nor do I 
mean to adduce any instances as facts which cannot 
be substantiated by sufficient evidence. If you will 



322 Reminiscences of 

consult the Encyclopedia Britannica you will ob- 
serve the instance of one captured, measuring thirty- 
seven feet in length, which contained thirteen por- 
poises and fourteen seals, which seem almost incredible. 

Their habitation is principally in the northern and 
Arctic seas, though found about as far south as Mon- 
terey. Their usual weight is from three to four tons, 
and their length twenty-five to thirty feet. Their food 
is principally of their own genus — warm-blooded an- 
imals of the sea, porpoises, walruses, seals, sea-lions, 
etc., — and like the wolves of the land they devour 
their own wounded kind. They have enormously 
large mouths, capable of taking in a whole porpoise 
or seal, and have immensely strong jaws with about 
forty tusk like teeth, of an inch and a half diameter, 
and from two to three inches in length, with a double 
row on the lower jaw. 

They will attack a whale without hesitancy, and 
tear from the lips and sides slabs of a hundred pounds, 
and follow to the greatest depth the whale will go. 
The whale, timid by nature, will flee before them, 
and when hard pressed will loll out its tongue as a dog 
will when fatigued. This will be seized by the killer 
and torn away, and my boatmen — ^both old whalers — 
related to me two instances, occurring off Monterey 
Bay, where whales were taken, for what blubber re- 
mained on their bitten-up carcasses, dying, tongueless, 
and this was substantiated to me by Michael Noon, a 
responsible man in charge of the Monterey pier. 

The business of whaling has been carried on for 
many years from Monterey, by men engaged in it 
from land stations, who when observing by glasses 
the blowing of whales off the coast, go out in their 



A Sportsman 323 

whaleboats, equipped with the usual outfit, and 
after harpooning and securing a whale, cut off the 
blubber, and securing, tow it in rafts to the shore 
for trying out the oil. 

Several instances have occurred when, securing 
the blubber and towing it by their boats to land, 
they have been attacked by the killers and lost their 
cargoes. One of my men related to me, having been 
on hand in such an instance, the particulars in the 
case; that, suddenly attacked by a pack of killers 
when towing in two rafts of blubber they had ob- 
tained by cutting up a large whale, they were power- 
less to prevent the total loss of their rafts, although 
they lanced a number of the killers, which had no 
effect upon the balance of the pack. I saw one of 
these killers towed to Monterey beach, which had 
been found by the fishermen in a dying condition 
in the bay, resulting from being choked by an extra- 
large seal, and had three other whole seals in its 
stomach. 

Singular that no instance is known of a man's 
being taken in by a killer, while swimming in the 
water, or of boats being disturbed by them, when it 
would be a simple feat to knock them over, or crush 
them. The largest sharks will flee before them, 
and will be fortunate if not torn to pieces and de- 
voured by them, which is a common occurrence. 
Seals and sea-lions are a favorite food for them, and 
the largest of the latter, of the weight of a ton, with 
its hide tougher than that of a bull, will be torn to 
pieces and devoured by them in short order. 

The sea-lions are very plentiful on the coast, off 
the seventeen-mile drive between the bays of Mon- 



324 Reminiscences of 

terey and Carmelo, and can be observed at times 
upon the island rocks off the shore by scores, rest- 
ing and sunning themselves after their food-seeking- 
swims, and their roaring can be heard a long ways 
off. Alert and swift as they are in the sea, they are 
slow and clumsy on the rocks, and in getting out 
of the water upon them. On the approach of the 
killers they can be seen coming in from all quarters, 
and hurriedly seeking refuge on the rocks, and seem 
to receive an intimation of danger in their scat- 
tered localities, by that yet unknown and undefined 
sense which communicates alarm and occurrences 
so often between the denizens of the sea, though 
widely separated. The salmon also cease feeding 
and disappear upon the approach of the killers, 
striking out in a body for deep water, and cannot be 
caught for a day or two in the previous localities. 

As well known to whalers, when one in a large 
school of whales separated over an area of a dozen 
square miles is harpooned, it is immediately com- 
mimicated to all others, though a number of miles 
intervene between them. This has been repeatedly 
observed from a whaling ship, and by the second 
boat out for harpooning, when the first boat has 
fastened to a whale. 

The first appearance of the killers occurred with me 
one day at Carmelo Bay, nearly twenty miles south 
of Monterey, where my boat was the sole one in that 
pretty little bay of two miles wide. The first intima- 
tion I had of the approach of the killers was when 
we saw several sea-lions hurriedly clambering up some 
island rocks near the shore, and the salmon, before 
plentiful, had ceased striking. 



A Sportsman 325 

"Killers," said one of my men, "and there they 
are," he continued, "a large pack coming around 
into the bay from a point south." 

I looked and saw them, not half a mile off, a sin- 
gular sight, like a broken body of infantry with 
bayonets up, and nothing more visible, a very 
peculiar sight, for the killers have a slim black dorsal 
fin, some five or six feet in height, which they 
carry afloat above the water as they swim along on 
the surface, as they proceed when not engaged in 
pursuit or feeding. We were a mile away from our 
landing, and I will confess I felt a sudden emotion 
of apprehensiveness, as I saw this murderous gang 
of sea bandits coming directly upon us. But my men 
said, "No fear, they will not harm us," although I 
found they had some little apprehensiveness them- 
selves. 

Soon they were all around us, but scattering, with 
occasionally some so near that we could plainly see 
their black bodies, with the white splashes on their 
heads; sportively, some were slashing carelessly about 
with their cross-set tails, plainly evincing their great 
power, and I thought how easily one of them could 
smash up our boat in a twinkling, if desired. I estimated 
their number at one hundred and fifty, which my 
men conceded, for they could not be readily counted, 
as some of them would go under now and then for 
a time, soon reappearing. It was a most astonishing 
sight, more so than anything I ever witnessed, and 
I have seen half a hundred whales about me. They 
were so many pirates of the sea with their black flags 
hoisted. I thought some of them looked at us very 
suspiciously with their oval eyes, white-spotted below, 



326 Reminiscences of 

but they were evidently at the time good-natured. 
I was relieved when they passed on, and they appar- 
ently gave us small regard. 

Think of the immense amount of food daily re- 
quired by a band of one hundred and fifty of these 
pirates, and how bountiful it must be, but there are 
hundreds of thousands of porpoises, seals and lions 
waiting for them. Fifty tons of food would no 
more than give a good meal for one hundred and 
fifty killers. 

I had before reeled up my line, as successful troll- 
ing for salmon was of the past, and there were no 
more salmon caught there for several days. In 
fact, the killers ended up the good fishing for the 
season. 

Among the owners of market fishing boats, and 
fishermen at Monterey — where there are quite a 
large number, as the station is one of first import- 
ance in supplying the state demands — are a number 
of interesting personalities: old whalers, sailors and 
sea rangers. Most of them are Italians and Portu- 
guese, with a motley variety of Americans, Swedes, 
Norwegians and Mexicans, down to the industrious 
Chinese. The latter are much by themselves, and 
confined mostly to near-shore ground fishing, and 
netting of squids, shrimps and small fish. They 
have almost exclusively the gathering of the large 
abalones found on the coast between the shores of 
Monterey and Carmelo, which are gathered at low 
tide. The abalone shells are in demand for the beauti- 
ful iridescent colors shown on the inner surface, and 
the meats are dried in the sun for export to China, 
with shrimps, squid and small fishes. 



A Sportsman 327 

It has been very interesting for me to hear the 
yarns from some of the old whalers and sailors, too 
numerous to recite, and in some instances perhaps 
beyond reasonable belief. A recitation of their yarns 
would fill a tolerably good-sized book. It was a 
favorite frequenting place of mine at the pier dur- 
ing the several months I was a resident of Monterey, 
early in the afternoon, to see the catches of fish which 
came in by the returning fishermen, for the varieties 
of fishes were numerous, with an occasional show- 
ing of something remarkable, out of the regular 
line. 

One of their accounts relating to the "killers," which 
I have referred to, interested me very much, of which 
I have remembrance of seeing some account in some 
newspaper, and, although of extravagant quality, 
I will put it together as best I can; for the account, 
seemingly so improbable as it would appear to many, 
does not seem so to me, and if the incidents relating 
to the aid given to the whalers by the killers did not 
take place, I believe that they could be made to occur. 

The scene of action was at Twofold Bay, a deep- 
water harbor off the southern coast of New South 
Wales, one noted for its varieties of fishes, as Monterey 
Bay is on the California Coast. 

The killers, though not numerous there, frequented 
the bay to some extent, and my informant had 
witnessed their actions in different waters and when 
in combat with whales, and in one instance when 
they were accompanied by a thresher shark of enor- 
mous proportions acting in union, which dealt fear- 
ful blows upon a whale attacked, with its striking 
tail, its adaptation in that respect being remarkable, 



328 Reminiscences of 

while the killers tore the unfortunate victims to 
death, at which they joined in devouring. 

At the Bay, a family of Davidsons — ^father and sons 
— ^had established a whaling station similar to the one 
at Monterey Bay, where they had carried on for many 
years the business of whaling in conjunction with 
a moderate number of killers, a dozen in number, 
with whom the family had intimate and friendly 
business relations, which had existed over a dozen 
years. These killers periodically departed from Two- 
fold Bay, but would return regularly to their accus- 
tomed haunts, and were so familiar with the Davidsons 
as to be named separately and individually: one Tom 
Tug, from his stripping success, another Fatty, another 
Flukey, etc., each being well known and separately 
designated. 

The killers accompanying the Davidsons with 
boats, would seize and hold a whale while the father 
and sons would lance it to death, whereupon the 
killers would drag the whale below and feast upon 
it to their fill. In a day or a day and a half, the 
whale would from a natural action rise to the 
surface, the place being marked by a buoy; where- 
upon the body would be towed to the shore for trying 
out. 

The method of holding an ordinary-sized whale 
was most systematic, the killers distributing them- 
selves about the body, and fastening on with bull- 
dog-like grips, with an occasional letting go by one 
or two of the killers, who would swim off a matter 
of fifty or a hundred feet, and returning with all 
their speed would strike the whale the most terrific 
blows with their heads, and then fasten on again, 



A Sportsman 329 

anon tearing off large slabs of blubber from the 
belly and about the head. At times the whale would 
get below before it could be lanced, but would be 
followed to any depth it could go, returning more or 
less exhausted to the surface, throwing itself out 
clear with the ferocious wolves of the sea still fastened 
on. 

The Davidsons stationed one of their number 
during the whaling season by or at an old light- 
house on a headland, where an open view of the sea 
was shown, and here the sea was scanned by the 
aid of a powerful glass, and from where the spout- 
ing of a whale could be observed at a distance of two 
or three miles ; but when a whale in its pleasant mood 
"breached" by throwing itself bodily out of the 
water, as it is wont to do, creating a great commotion 
and splashing of waves and spray, it could be seen 
five or six miles off. The killers of course could 
not see this, lazily sporting about in the small bay, 
spouting now and then, and showing their black 
glistening backs as they rose to roll or dive, remain- 
ing in waiting during the whaling season, not far 
from the two whaling boats kept in readiness near 
the trying-out station, their dependence being largely 
placed upon the Davidson family. 

Whales being sighted out in the offing, and the 
fluttering flag signals two or three miles south from 
the boats, thrown out at the light house station, 
aroused excited action at the boat station, and the 
men at the trying work rushed to the oars. 

" There they blow, at the north-west, humpbacks 
steering north." 

Off went the boats, fully equipped, at their best speed 



330 Reminiscences of 

but they did not escape the notice of the killers, who 
ranged themselves alongside and ahead of the leading 
boat, keeping well outside the oars, leaping, rolling 
and breaching in wild joy with the prospects of a 
bloody fray. As they approached the whales a slower 
oar was pulled, and in a moment the killers disap- 
peared. They had heard or seen the spouting and 
splashing ahead, and before the boats could arrive were 
among the whales. 

Humpbacks, sure enough, and now a mighty 
scene of uplifting of huge bodies and lashing of the waters 
occurs, an area of white swirling foam, amid which 
the frantic whales sound for escape, but not before 
a dozen ferocious killers have selected their victim, 
which they are to do more than half the work in 
capturing. Skilfully avoiding the flukes, they fasten 
on with their bulldog grips, tearing away as they 
can huge strips of skin and blubber, especially fast- 
ening on about the head. Their victim, distracted 
and torn, vainly attempts to sound with his com- 
rades, for now they are gone, and if he can possibly 
follow, he cannot rid himself of the devilish fiends 
who beset him with undiminished savagery. Per- 
haps half a hundred fathoms he may sound, but never 
a moment can he be free from his desperate clinging 
destroyers. Bleeding and frantic, and more winded 
than his wont when below, he must return to the 
surface again, where the boats manned with human 
foes are calmly awaiting his appearance. 

There is no escape for him in the depths of the sea, 
nor where the sunlight in fulness gleams. He may 
rise near the boats or some distance away, but he 
cannot get below again, for his enemies are too power- 



A Sportsman 331 

ful, leaping at times entirely over his body, and attack 
him with redoubled fierceness, tearing away from 
above and below, from the great corrugations of 
his ribbed belly, and his huge lips, and perhaps have 
already torn away his elephantine tongue, which for 
the killers is a delicate and sought -for morsel. One 
or two of the killers may illustrate the great pounding 
act, one blow of which has been known to render 
a whale temporarily senseless, and the hapless victim, 
the largest animal of the earth, now near its last ex- 
tremity, moves around in circles, sometimes turning 
over on its back, or swimming on its side. 

Now, then, for the last act in this sad drama. The 
leading boat cautiously pulls for the favorable putting 
of the iron. The long lance is sped by powerful 
hand in a vital spot and penetrates the tough skin as a 
fork would that of an apple. Withdrawn, the warm 
blood gushes out following, and perhaps two or three 
more swift thrusts are made with equal success, and 
then with the cry "Stern all!" the boat backs away 
from the death flurry, which even the killers drop 
away from. All is over, and the mighty monarch 
of the ocean, with its mountain of flesh, is placid 
in death. Scarcely, for before the last tremulousness 
of the flurry is over, by a simultaneous effort of all 
the killers, the body is seized and dragged below; 
as the sanguinary animals of the forest drag their 
victims to convenient places for devouring, so with 
these wolves of the sea, who invariably, as experienced 
by the Davidson family, drag the whale's carcass 
to the bottom, or at least to a considerable depth, 
where they indulge in a great feast, gorging them- 
selves to fulness. 



332 Reminiscences of 

The boats, dropping out a buoy with sufficient 
Hne, with which they are prepared, return to the 
shore, until the second day after, when if the whale 
carcass is not yet up they wait for it as it is sure to 
soon after come up, when it is towed to the trying 
works. The Killers, whether actuated by a sense 
of duty or not to render proper obsequies to the de- 
parted, accompany the body to the surface and to 
the trying works; but it may be a question if their 
inclination to blubber has not a bearing on the sub- 
ject, and if they are not influenced more by a self- 
ish desire. 

At least the killers accompany the body to the 
trying works, and are a safeguard against sharks, 
giving themselves interim a replenishment of stom- 
ach, which is a slight loss, compared with the ad- 
vantages of their services. 

The Davidsons claim that with the late low prices 
of oil they could not carry on the whaling busi- 
ness without the aid of the killers, and have been 
reticent about giving the information, which is 
imparted here by one who claimed to have been a 
personal witness on several occasions, acting as an 
employe, and who states many other particulars ; that 
there had been other occasions than those experi- 
enced by the Davidsons, where the killers had ren- 
dered material aid to whalers in the north seas, that 
no instances had ever been known when the killers 
had ever disturbed boats, or injured men in the water, 
though they had been known repeatedly to approach 
men who had been knocked overboard and to sniff 
at, and go away from them, without any manifest- 
ations of devouring interest; that they were, despite 



A Sportsman 333 

their ferocity, the most sagacious, cunning and ex- 
pert creatures which hved in the sea, possessing un- 
paralleled daring and persistence, and would hover 
around the sea-lion rocks for days, and had been seen 
repeatedly to come up suddenly from deep water 
close along-side jutting-out rocks where sea-lions were 
basking, and snatch them away, although they were 
five or six feet above the water — this has been con- 
firmed by a number who claimed to have witnessed 
it; that whalers have witnessed them not only 
with the thresher or fox shark, but accompanied 
by large sword-fish in attacks upon whales. 

Think of what a grand sport and top holding in 
sports this would be for an ambitious sportsman 
wishing to exceed all others and achieve the record 
over all, with the ocean for his field and the whale 
for his game, with a pack of killers at his heels, 
and it may be recommended to those who are en- 
nuied with the tame pastime of hunting wild boars, 
stags, and mountain lions with dogs, to take a hold- 
ing on some northern coast station, and give him- 
self over to the conquest of mighty whales, the largest 
animals of creation, attended by gladiatorial bull- 
dogs of the sea. 

The captain of a whaling ship which returned 
from a winter's whaling in the Behring Sea, a few 
years ago, gave an account of the capture of a killer 
by the natives of that locality, which he witnessed. 
It was at the season when the ice pack was breaking 
up, when the walruses, sea-lions and seals were being 
disturbed from their winter quarters on the ice and 
compelled to seek other quarters, a period when, 
according to the natives, the killers, long absent. 



334 Reminiscences of 

would be sure to come for the advantages to be gained 
in the breaking up of the pack, as they usually ap- 
peared at that time in a most ravenous state. 

The natives had been patrolling the ice pack for 
some days for walrus, and a visiting party accompanied 
the ship's crew, who were anxious to kill a walrus. 
The ice, open in some places, was generally weak 
when frozen over, and the creeping on to the 
walrus was followed with caution. Some walruses 
were observed in a group near an open water space, and 
as the party was approaching with great care there 
suddenly arose a huge black object through the 
ice from the water below, throwing up the splin- 
terings of ice high in the air, and seized a walrus, 
dragging it down below. It was the work of a moment. 
It was a killer, which, observing the walrus from a 
starting place below, had shattered the decaying 
ice with its ponderous head, impelled with a velocity 
which had been known to strike a whale momenta- 
rily senseless. The witness was informed by the 
natives that an occurrence similar to this had been 
frequently witnessed. Shortly after this the ice broke 
up in the bay, and was blown out by an oif-shore 
wind, when the Killers became plentiful, and their 
spoutings were often heard and seen. 

One day the natives started out with three of 
their largest boats, each manned by half a dozen rowers, 
with harpoons and steerers. Once in the bay they 
took different directions. A mile out the killers 
were observed, first a school of them, their high dorsal 
fins standing out distinctly against the horizon, and 
at times their glistening backs in the sun. Their 
movements were slow and deliberate, as they swam 



A Sportsman 335 

slowly in single file, so slowly that it was easy to ap- 
proach them. When near, the leading crew approached 
with great caution, avoiding the slightest splash 
or noise, but urging their boat at the greatest possible 
speed. 

The largest leading killer was selected, which sunk 
itself moderately in the water so that the boat passed 
over it, and at this critical moment the harpooner 
threw his weapon with all his power. As the harpoon 
struck, the boat was backed with all possible speed, 
but none too soon, as the killer immediately leaped 
six or seven feet clear from the water, and then 
dropped back with a resounding crash, sending heavy 
waves after the boat. The moment the killer fell 
to the water it sounded, tearing the rope from the 
coil with such velocity that it fairly smoked from 
the friction at the run out; several hundred yards 
were taken in this way, when the killer, evidently 
grounding, came up with terrific rapidity near the boat, 
which the dragging of the rope was of trifling im- 
portance in retarding. As the killer reached the 
surface, it came entirely out of the water again, 
falling back with a crash from its own weight. As 
it fell, it lashed the surface water to foam with its 
powerful tail, doubling itself up, and striking out 
frantically in its efforts to cast away the impaling 
harpoon. As it straightened, its flashing tail would 
strike on the surface with a noise like the report 
of a musket. Finding it could not disengage itself 
from the harpoon, it commenced to swim around 
in a circle with its back exposed, as if looking for 
its enemy. Meantime the natives, not alarmed, hauled 
in the slack with all their might. 



336 Reminiscences of 

When the killer felt the pull it plunged down 
and swam rapidly out to sea, the boatmen in the mean- 
time giving some turns of the rope around the bow 
post. For several miles the boat was dragged with 
a velocity that imperilled its safety, taking in much 
water which had to be constantly bailed out. After 
several miles had been gone over the killer fortunately 
turned back to the bay, with apparently less speed 
than first given, which gradually diminished after 
an hour's towing, and finally so that the boatmen 
hauled back the rope to within 200 feet of the killer. 

The other two boats, which had followed as well 
as they could, were now enabled to approach and 
send in their harpoons to the back of the killer, now 
exposed. Under this additional affliction the killer 
sounded, but not to a great depth, for it immediately 
appeared, attacking one of the boats from below 
with its head, which struck amidship, sending it 
shattered into the air, and throwing out its occupants, 
who managed to reach one of the other boats, where 
they were hauled into safety. 

The killer, without paying any attention to the 
swimming men, completed the destruction of the 
boat with its powerful tail, exhibiting while so doing 
the snapping of its ferocious teeth. The killer then, 
apparently satisfied with the destruction of one 
of the boats, began swimming around in a circle 
upon the surface of the water, and as he became 
quieter he was simultaneously deeply lanced from 
each of the two remaining boats, which immediately 
backed off to avoid the death flurry. But too late, 
for the killer still had dangerous life left, and, instead 
of yielding up its struggle, sunk to moderate depth 



A Sportsman Zo7 

and came up at the bow of one of the remaining boats, 
the first intimation of which the inmates had was 
of its being crushed by the jaws of the killer. No 
attack was made on the boatmen now swimming 
to the last remaining boat. The end had been reached 
and on the surface came the furious flurry of the dying 
gladiator. Motionless then he rested amid the waters 
agitated in his last agony, with his glistening back 
flecked with foam. 

A dear-bought victory, as it proved for the natives, 
who towed their prize ashore, hauling it in at high 
water, and when exposed a number of days, it con- 
stituted a long feast for them; for exposure and 
partial decay had no objective effect on the Alaskan 
appetite. 



DUT returning to the salmon. The average time I 
■■— ' found necessary to fetch a salmon to gaff, I should 
estimate from eight to fifteen minutes, but occasionally 
longer ; but once getting my salmon turned in a course 
around the boat, his fate seemed decided, and around 
it would go several times, often leaping out of the water, 
exhibiting its proportions. Once brought to the surface 
the salmon keeps near it in its runs, without attempting 
to go below much, until brought near the boat. 

Certainly no sight is more beautiful or attractive to 
a fisherman than to see in the clear water this magnif- 
icent fish with its brilliant colors swiftly gliding along 
by the strokes of its powerful tail. When approaching 
the surface in its last exertions, it will appear of various 
colors, black one moment, then bluish black, with 
iridescent hues, and gleaming white as its belly upturns. 



33^ Reminiscences of 

But its energies are not entirely gone, as shown at the 
stroke of the gaff, when it exerts new hfe, and well held 
must be the gaff, with strap over wrist, or away may 
the fish go, if not quickly swung into the boat by the 
gaff, and will often flop out of the boat if the head blow 
is not speedily given. No sight can more gladden the 
heart of a fisherman than that of a dozen salmon in 
his boat as he returns from a morning's troll. 

I should say that the market fishermen lose pretty 
nearly half the salmon they hook — at least when they 
strike a good school — ^for they act quickly to reap the 
harvest, and pull in with all their strength the hooked 
salmon on their stout cotton hand lines with large hook 
and sinker. They row and sometimes sail more rapidly 
than one would with a light trolling rod, and in their 
eagerness often attempt with the hook alone to lift their 
fish into their boats, often losing in this manner. They 
tear out the hook often in their rough hauling in. They 
sometimes fish with two hooks, having quite a stiff steel 
wire fastened to the end of their lines, with a spread of 
three feet, and on each end a baited hook on a foot line, 
and often succeed in hauling in doubles of salmon as 
well as of other fish. 

But in trolling with a light steel rod, with the salmon 
freed from the sinker, it is almost invariably brought to 
gaff, and not one in a dozen of those hooked is lost, 
even those by a skin hold. I have repeatedly taken 
them in hooked in this way, and it is not difficult to 
know very quickly how the fish is hooked, and in the 
latter case handle more carefully, as trout fishermen 
do, when they have hooked a trout in the same way 
But to hook a salmon foul, say on the back, entails a long 
winded fight, as has occurred in one or two of my catches. 



A Sportsman 339 

The taking of salmon in the open sea, fresh in their 
feeding habit upon their accustomed food, was such a 
novel experience to me that I took pains to study their 
methods of feeding, of approach, and attack, and the 
character of the food upon which they subsist, which 
gives them such astonishingly rapid growth. These par- 
ticulars are important in accounting for the splendid 
condition they are almost invariably found in, when 
fresh from the sea. The parr or smolt, taking the sea 
in a year or two from the fresh water stream where it is 
hatched out, is nourished first from the umbilical sac, 
and following on the protozoa and ephemera, and is of 
light weight, less than a quarter of a pound, but in the 
sea gains a number of pounds the first year, when it is 
designated as a grilse. In two or three years more it is 
a well grown salmon. 

At exactly what age they take to the fresh water 
from the sea for spawning cannot be positively stated, 
but it may be assumed that they do so after three years 
of sea life. Perhaps some may go to the fresh water after 
two years' sojourn in the sea, and some may wait four 
years. We know that the spawn exists in the young 
female identical with its growth, as well as developed 
faculties in the male grilse. The ova, however, remains, 
one might say, dormant, incidental with growth of the 
female, but after two, three, or four years' life in the 
sea, as the case may be, visibly develops, but does not 
reach the voiding condition until stimulated by the ad- 
vent of the fish into fresh water. Fresh water is a neces- 
sitated element to anadromous fishes, and when the 
ova of such have reached a comparatively matured 
condition, the impulse of nature directs them to the 
spawning grounds. 



340 Reminiscences of 

The sea fishing exhibits many characteristics of the 
sahnon which cannot be observed elsewhere, and are 
entirely new features in the life and habits of this king 
of the streams, where but one side of its dual life has 
illustrated so many volumes. No accounts of accuracy 
have been given of its important life in the sea, until 
gained by viewing that real life as shown upon the 
California coast, where the salmon is observed in its 
normal condition engaged in the pursuit of its food of 
nourishment. 

In the sea its life is one of progress, and in the 
fresh water, excepting at its commencement, one of 
retrogression and extinction. With its birth and first 
delicate life in the stream we are familiar, and with 
its swift advancement in the sea, and with its more 
rapid decline upon its return to that element which 
was so invigorating in early days. If there could 
be another chapter it would be that of its survival 
from the mountain stream after the spawning season 
in its return to the briny waves, such return, by a 
singular fatality, deadly in effect, but of this we have 
no history. 

In the fresh-water pools, where the salmon rises 
to the angler's fly, it is made in a comparatively 
moderate way, and if missed, the salmon returns to 
its before-occupied place, where it must have a rest 
before engaging a following strike, and if followed 
up too quickly and eagerly, may entirely give up 
further attention; but if allowed to compose itself 
for a few minutes, may again rise and essay the 
gaudy deceit. Not so with the salmon in the sea, 
who is bold and aggressive, free in the boundless 
water, eager and fearless. Even if pricked by the 



A Sportsman . 341 

hook's failing to fasten, he will again engage, and 
having secured but a portion of the vanishing bait 
will seize the remainder — if but a mere shred — and 
in his voraciousness become impaled; and I have 
several times taken a salmon which, taking in his 
first strike a portion of the bait, and hooked with a 
slight hold, has again struck the remnant of bait 
and, well hooked, been brought to gaff, which exhib- 
ited the wound from the first strike. 

On one occasion I caught a large salmon of some 
twenty-five pounds, which struck fiercely and fought 
hard, but was in a very bad condition from two wounds 
gained in an encounter with one of the market fisher- 
men, but otherwise in good condition of flesh. The 
wounds told the story. It had one side of its jaw 
and mouth cut badly by a torn-out hook, and a severe 
cut between its ventral and anal fins of three inches 
in length and equal in width — ^where a gaff had torn 
out. The gaff had penetrated nearly through the 
salmon. It was evident that he had been well hooked 
and gaffed, but brought in speedily by the fisherman 
with his heavy line and hook while still full of life. In 
the clumsy and hasty work of the fisherman, one of 
the holes had torn out and afterwards the other, and 
the salmon went free, to finally fall a victim to my hook 
and gaff. It seemed hardly likely that this salmon 
could have survived the belly wound, yet he had not 
indicated any failing courage in striking my bait, or in 
his play. 

I am reminded of a shark I once hooked in the 
Gulf of Mexico with a junk of salt pork and a chain 
hook — from the ship Western Star, long years ago — 
when I was a passenger on the ship on a passage 



342 Reminiscences of 

from New Orleans to Boston. We were becalmed, 
and a large shark made himself at home swimming 
slowly about the ship, which excited a strong desire 
in my mind for his capture, and I got out the hook 
rig which the ship had, fastened to a long rope. I soon 
had the shark on, and set the large shark hook well 
into his jaw. He was altogether too large for hoist- 
ing aboard, as his weight would surely tear out the 
hook. He would, after being hooked, swim under 
and about the ship, but did not exhibit any remark- 
able ferocity or fighting qualities, and would submit, 
with the aid of several of the crew, to being hauled 
up along-side the ship, but that was all that could 
possibly be accomplished with him. The captain — 
friendly disposed — got out his long shark and por- 
poise harpoon, which had a long iron shank of eight 
or nine feet in length. To the end of the harpoon 
a stout rope was attached. I can see Captain Homer 
in full remembrance now — after the many years 
which have elapsed — standing on the bulwark of 
the ship's side as he cast the harpoon deep into the 
shark, which had quieted down considerably, and 
lay supinely along-side. The penetration of the har- 
poon, complete as it was, seemed to affect the coarse 
sensibilities of the shark, and he gave such a wrench- 
ing roll-over of his body, the captain meantime hold- 
ing on the extended wooden handle of the harpoon iron, 
to which a rope was attached, it bent over the iron 
part, so that it became a gigantic hook, as it were, 
of the harpoon through the shark's body. The 
shark then made a run, but, with half a dozen men 
holding both the hook and harpoon ropes, he was 
soon brought along-side. A sure prize he was, and 



A Sportsman 343 

small insurance money would have been paid out 
to guarantee his gracing the ship's deck. 

The ropes were run over blocks, andthe hoisting 
commenced on both ropes. The weight was so ex- 
cessive, with over a dozen of the crew on the hauls, 
that the captain thought it expedient to make a sure 
thing of it by bending a noose around the shark's 
tail. This was done, and over the three blocks 
the sailors pulled merrily on the ropes. The shark 
had almost reached the height of the bulwarks when 
it was observed that the hook, hauling too heavily 
upon the shark's mouth, was tearing out. It did. 
The additional strain upon the great harpoon hook 
began to straighten it out, and finally it came out 
entirely. Fortunately, we had the noose rope on 
the tail. Fortunate, indeed; when horrors ! that 
began to slip; and, a shark's tail not being of that 
cross-cut variety which the tunas and the blackfish 
have, slowly oozed through the noose, and our shark 
made a header into the green sea, from which he 
never appeared to our view again. 

Moral: Don't count your fish until they are 
strung or creeled; and then you may not be sure of 
them, as a visiting chap at the Rangeleys last year 
found when returning from a brook at twilight with 
a creel full of fish. Passing through a path in the 
woods, he heard a noise behind him, and saw a huge 
bear rising up on his hind feet. Suspecting the 
cause, he hastily threw down his basket, and legged 
with good speed away, finding the next morning 
only his torn-up empty basket and nothing else. 

Among all the salmon I caught off Monterey, I 
never saw one that appeared in thin flesh: all plump 



344 Reminiscences of 

and full, indicating that the sources of food supply 
are most plentiful. As the various fishes which they 
prey upon, the anchovies and sardines, are not deep- 
water fish, or the squid, it is pretty clear that the 
salmon do not go very many miles from the shore, 
probably not more than a hundred, or that they 
frequent a depth greater than fifty or sixty fathoms. 
There are instances where they have been caught at 
sea at a depth of from twenty to thirty fathoms by 
baited hooks, at different places up and down the 
middle and northern coast of California, but not at 
a greater depth than mentioned. 

It is not likely that the king salmon, or chinook, 
those of the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers, 
ever go more than a hundred and fifty miles from 
the bay of San Francisco, and they are never seen more 
than a hundred and twenty miles south of the bay. 
Although identical with the chinook of the Columbia 
River, seven hundred miles north, they are distinctive 
in weight, those of the Columbia River averaging 
four pounds heavier in weight at the canning works 
over those of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. 

How the salmon find their way to the several par- 
ticular streams where they were hatched out, and 
which they occupied in their juvenile days, I will 
explain in some later references to fishes and their 
ability to find their way through the sea, and this 
through the confusion of the waters of the bays, 
too extended to consider at this moment. 

The salmon in the sea appears to be quite fearless 
and indifferent about boats and fishermen, probably 
never having seen any before, and if considered at all, 
would probably suppose them to be some sort of fish. 



A Sportsman 345 

and moderately avoid them on that account. They 
often pass by the boat not far from the surface, and 
occasionally follow up a hooked salmon near the boat 
as trout and bass will, though not frequently, and I 
have occasionally observed four or five salmon fol- 
lowing up my shred of a bait when reeling in to replen- 
ish. When fifteen or twenty feet from the boat 
they would turn off in disappointment, which I would 
endeavor to relieve as much as possible by speedily 
throwing out a fresh bait. A rather exciting moment 
for a fisherman. 

I have examined the stomachs of a great many 
of these salmon, not only of my own catch, but at the 
salting works at the Monterey pier, California, and 
have very seldom found any empty. The predomi- 
nating food I have found more of squid than any- 
thing else; next anchovies and sardines. These ap- 
pear to be the principal food at the bay when the 
waters are full of them. I found also varieties of 
small fishes, smelts, cods, blue-fish, flounders and 
others. Occasionally I have found the stomachs 
packed with shrimps, which swimming in clouds 
could easily be scooped in. 

The stomach of the salmon does not have the dis- 
tention apparent with other members of the Sal- 
monidce family, not exhibiting the swollen aspect 
seen often in trout, which, gorging to the limit, will 
still take the minnow when only a portion of it can 
enter the stomach, and with the tail part protruding 
from the throat will often as eagerly strike at the 
fly as if half famished. 

It is clear that the salmon at home in the salt water 
is an indiscriminate feeder upon any kind of small 



346 Reminiscences of 

fishes which come in its way, and will strike at any 
moving object not too large for swallowing whole. 
Although I caught some salmon with a spoon, I did 
not find this offering taken as readily as fresh bait, 
and a large fly would be readily taken if trolled at 
a depth. 

The salmon come in at Monterey usually in the 
first part of June, and almost wholly disappear by 
September, though an occasional salmon may be 
picked up out of season. 

In a dead calm, or in the middle of the day, the 
salmon strikes will almost cease, and the favorite 
hours for success are from the break of day to nine 
o'clock, during which hours I did most of my fishing. 
One cannot be too early for them. The mornings 
during the season are almost always calm and 
breezeless, and generally foggy, often so much so 
that one going out from the Monterey pier may 
have no index of his course but the mellow sound 
of the buoy bell, two miles out, which at intervals 
strikes from the rising and falling of the ground 
swell. This bell I have been guided by, and have 
listened to so often that, for a long time after my 
fishing experiences at the bay, I have imagined I 
could hear its distant soft and weird sound in the 
stillness of the night, when many miles away. About 
this buoy was a favorite reach for the salmon. About 
eight o'clock the fog, however dense, would generally 
drift away landward from the almost invariably 
westerly breeze, which would give good sailing speed 
for home. This breeze would occasionally be so 
stiff as to kick up a rough sea, not pleasant to one 
inclined to sea-sickness, a complaint, however, which 



A Sportsman 347 

I did not experience, nor the habituated fishermen. 
But even with a rough sea the fishing would hold good. 

Many destroyers beside man are among the salmon 
— the sea-lions, seals, and sharks being most con- 
spicuous, with occasional visitations of porpoises, killers, 
tunas, and grampuses. 

One morning in a dense fog an immense sea-lion 
rose up from the water just ahead of my boat with 
a salmon in its mouth, a rather appalling sight from 
his close proximity, but harmless, as they have never 
been known to attack men or boats, although a fatal 
incident occurred in the bay the year before my fish- 
ing, when a large sea-lion became entangled in a 
fishing net — not an uncommon event — and, while 
being struck at by one of the netters at close quarters, 
seized him by the thigh, and carried him down, with 
fatal result. The seals are plentiful and will occa- 
sionally cut off the salmon while it is being hauled in. 

The fishermen dispose of their fish almost wholly 
for moderate prices at the Monterey pier, where 
salting works are established, receiving for their 
salmon from three to five cents per pound. Their 
other varieties of marketable fishes are handled also 
by the salters, who pack and forward to dealers at 
the various markets. 

It is observable that the schools of salmon are 
comparatively uniform in weights, in one locality 
running from twelve to twenty pounds, and in an- 
other from twenty pounds up; and off the coast at 
Santa Cruz, twenty miles north of Monterey Bay, 
they run lighter than at the latter locality, where 
grilse are much more plentiful. 

It is a feature apparent at Monterey Bay that the 



348 Reminiscences of 

male salmon largely exceed the female, the latter 
but little exceeding one quarter of the whole. This 
is - rather singular, considering that at the canning 
works the sexes are about equal. 

I heard accounts of large salmon at Carmelo 
Bay, twenty miles south of Monterey, a place not 
much frequented, being without boats and conven- 
ient railroad facilities for shipping, and therefore 
not desirable with the fishermen, on account of 
its distance away. At this bay is the outlet of 
the Carmelo River, a mountain stream which I 
have before mentioned as a resort for the steel-head 
trout, so plentiful at certain seasons. But one from 
the bay view would hardly suspect the existence 
of the river beyond the half-mile of beach through 
which it cuts its way in large volume during the 
annual winter rains, but now in the salmon season 
the mouth is effectually sealed up by the banked- 
up sand, through which but a moderate amount 
of water slowly seeps. The bay is small, being about 
two miles in width, while the water is very clear and 
deep. The region is quite deserted excepting for 
a very few Chinese huts and adobes. Prominent, 
however, is the old Carmelo church some dis- 
tance inland, built many years ago by the Jesuit 
padres but fairly well preserved, where services 
are occasionally held for the benefit of the few 
remaining inhabitants, representing a mixture of 
Mexicans and Indians scattered about the re- 
gion. 

I had my boat and two men go down there in ad- 
vance, and by rising at the early hour of three o'clock 
at the Del Monte hotel could drive down there in 



A Sportsman 349 

season to get the early fishing, where I had several 
days of notable success. 

Few bays could be more beautiful and romantic 
than Carmelo — resting between two bold rocky prom- 
ontories, on one of which, back from the shore, 
are groups of a very rare tree, the true cedars of 
Lebanon, not found, I believe, elsewhere on the Amer- 
ican continent. These cedars throw out their branches 
in a most curious and grotesque manner, and would 
instantly attract the notice of a passing tourist by 
their remarkable appearance, so different from any- 
thing seen before. When I passed them in the star- 
light hour — as I did several times in early morning 
or late evening — I never failed to be strongly im- 
pressed by their weird and fantastic shapes. 

I had an experience at Carmelo one day with the 
salmon which I doubt if any other mortal ever wit- 
nessed the equal of. It was not yet light after my 
drive from the Del Monte when I passed from the 
remnant of an old wharf among the rocks on 
the south shore of the bay to my waiting boat. The 
morning was fogless, with a light breeze from the 
west. A few pulls brought the boat over an im- 
mense school of anchovies near the surface, with which 
our jig of a short rod and ten feet of line, set with 
a leaden sinker on the end and half a dozen bare 
hooks, soon filled our bait bucket. This method is 
followed for obtaining bait, by dropping down the 
line and pulling it up quickly, when bushels of an- 
chovies and sardines can be obtained if over a swarm- 
ing school, as plentifully foimd in the bay waters 
during the season. 

The long, heaving green waves from the Asiatic 



350 Reminiscences of 

coast were about to feel their first check on the 
CaUfomia shore, and among those moderate swells 
were thousands of salmon full of lusty strength, and 
silver-glistening, gliding amid this immense mass of 
anchovies, which scattering and demoralized vainly 
sought escape. As it grew lighter the salmon could 
be seen in rapid motion near the boat, and many 
breaks and whirls were observable near the surface. 
The birds were already there to seize the distracted 
anchovies when within reach, shrieking with dis- 
cordant gabbling notes their exultation, the only 
sounds which broke the quiet of the morning. 

The water was clear and attractive in its bluish- 
green hue. Down many feet could be seen the sil- 
very anchovies in restless motion, easily followed 
by their flashing brightness. Among them were the 
salmon, seeming at play, but as wanton as that of 
the tiger with its victim. Blue flashing streaks oc- 
casionally passed near the boat. These were the 
salmon in passage, and now and then one would 
break fairly out of the water, but not with the play- 
ful leap as seen in fresh- water pools, but breaking 
from one wave to another in headlong pursuing 
flight. This scene continued directly about me for 
an hour, and my men and I were the only wit- 
nesses, on the placid waters of this beautiful bay, of 
this interesting scene which many salmon fishermen 
would have given so much to see. 

Once a salmon came up head-on, vertically, sev- 
eral feet out of the water, close to the boat, so near 
that it seemed as if it would come in. It was a bold 
and vigorous rush from below, undoubtedly for an 
anchovy above him. It was- an exciting moment, 



A Sportsman 35 ^ 

for I had a large salmon on my line, which was wild 
with fright and frantic struggles. As I brought my 
salmon to gaff, my lead sinker on its short piece 
of line, some thirty feet above my hook (as I had 
not then adopted the improved method of connect- 
ing it near the bait), was seized within six feet of 
the boat by another salmon, and torn away. I saw 
distinctly in the clear water as I was reeling in my 
hooked salmon, the rush of this second one and its 
quick strike, and the tearing away of my sinker 
near the surface, suspended on a light piece of line, 
relieved me from the necessity of taking it off, which 
I was about to do. I have had salmon strike at my 
sinker many times, and this was the third instance 
of having it carried away, showing the disposition 
of this fish in its normal condition to strike at moving 
objects. Losing my sinker in this instance, I dis- 
pensed with it for a while as the salmon were about 
so plentifully, taking in several with my bait near 
the surface. 

I could not, at this exciting period when salmon 
were so plentiful, but regret the time required to 
fetch them in, requiring from ten to twenty minutes 
for each. So I had to stop playing my fish, while 
the great body of anchovies moved on toward the 
beach shore of the bay, driven on by their relent- 
less pursuers, followed by the circling clouds of shags, 
muirs and gulls, and less rapidly by my boat im- 
peded by the necessity of fighting hooked salmon. 
But we followed on, finally into the jaws of the ground 
swell, where for half a mile in length on the sandy 
beach the salmon held the anchovies for at least 
two hours. Back, probably, from the advancing 



352 Reminiscences of 

school of pursuers, were other contingents of break- 
fasting salmon taking the places of those which had 
made their fill, and no cessation of quick striking oc- 
curred until the sun was an hour high. 

Many of the anchovies in their fright were driven 
up upon the sandy beach, where a long line was 
visible of flopping fish, of which, however, the most 
managed to regain their native element. At eleven 
o'clock, when I ceased fishing for the time — as the 
salmon had retired to deeper water — I had seventeen 
in my boat. 

In the afternoon I renewed my fishing, securing 
twelve more, making a total of twenty-nine salmon 
which gave a total weight of over five hundred pounds. 
My largest fish of the day weighed thirty-three pounds, 
and my smallest thirteen. I was satisfied, and had 
my glut of salmon, a carnival of fishing I was sure 
I would not soon see again. 

While my result of the day was large, I lost more 
than ever before in proportion to my catch, owing 
to careless handling arising from the excitement oc- 
casioned by such a plentifulness of strikers. It was 
a dark record against my skill. I lost twelve fish 
which had been hooked and played from five to 
fifteen minutes. One large fish, despite all my ex- 
ertions, ran out all my line and parted it. One sal- 
mon — a very large one — sprang out of the boat and 
escaped after being gafied, before receiving the usual 
quietus of a blow on the head. 

I had a wagon down from the Del Monte which 
conveyed all my salmon to the hotel, and I passed 
the following day in forwarding salmon to San Fran- 
cisco and neighboring points where I had friends. 



A Sportsman 353 

Many curious incidents occur with fishermen which 
seem almost incredible, some of which are so singular 
as to create a smile of incredulity upon the relating. 
I have had many such, but one occurred of an amusing 
character while I was salmon fishing accompanied 
by a friend, who after I had taken in a few salmon, 
and had a following stripping of bait occur, and no 
fash, bantered me as I put on a fresh bait to wager 
that I would take in a fish on the following cast. 
I said I would take it for a box of cigars, that I would 
take in a fish of some kind, not confining myself to 
salmon, on that trial. I had a good strike but failed 
to hook my fish, and I knew by the way my line eased 
up that I had lost my bait ; so I slowly reeled in, trust- 
ing that possibly some mere shred of bait remaining 
might lure on some straggling wanderer. But as the 
end of my line appeared, and the hook looked bare, my 
friend Sprague gleefully claimed the bet. But as I 
lifted it in over the side of the boat I observed some- 
thing of slight form attached to the hook, and upon our 
close examination it was seen that I had won the bet, 
for hanging upon it was a minute codfish of not more 
than an inch and a half in length, which was hooked 
squarely in the mouth, the point of the large hook 
coming out through its gills. In reeling in my line 
and bare hook, this minute specimen had probably 
been swimming along in an opposite direction, and 
the point of my hook had struck it squarely in its 
little mouth, securing for me my wager. I have the 
little chap now in alcohol in a small bottle, as a me- 
mento of this occasion. 

It may be claimed, by those fishermen who are 
so wedded to the artificial fly, that trolling with a 



354 Reminiscences of 

spinning anchovy or sardine is not the proper lure 
for the king of fish, but it may be a question if such 
a view is not of the fanciful and fantastic order, rather 
than the resulting conclusions of the experienced 
all-around fisherman, who, disdaining an unfair ad- 
vantage over his game, does not decline the accept- 
ance of a lure which may to an extent, if stolen away, 
compensate for the risk taken. 

As the autumnal rains commence in California, 
swelling the tributaries and main streams of the 
Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, emptying into 
the bay of San Francisco, the salmon take leave of 
Monterey Bay and its vicinity, but they are usually suc- 
ceeded by new schools from the outer sea, which in 
turn depart, and are followed by more, until well 
into September, although an occasional salmon may 
be picked up about Monterey during every month 
of the year. 

I have before mentioned that these salmon, as 
seined at the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, 
are well proved to be those of Monterey, as their 
average size is similar, and distinctive from those of 
the Columbia River in Oregon, several hundred miles 
north of San Francisco, where the salmon average 
several pounds heavier. 

Their arrival at the river seining nets is timed at 
three days after their departure, as I have observed 
by the news from the river canning works, showing 
that they leisurely make the distance at the rate of 
thirty miles a day, or rather each night, as the latter 
is the time of their journeying. It is observed that 
when the movement takes place, from a reach of 
twenty or thirty miles in extent along the coast, 



A Sportsman 355 

all go, excepting a few stragglers, showing a con- 
certed action. It is interesting to note that in the 
bay of San Francisco a large number of grilse are 
found, which remain the larger part of the year, 
and are freely caught in particular localities with 
shrimp bait, and no other locality is known where 
grilse can be caught in a similar way. 

The distance from the landing at Carmelo Bay to 
the pier at Monterey is twenty-five miles. I con- 
cluded, after completing my fishing at Carmelo, that 
I would take the passage in my boat from there on 
its return, that I might try the salmon fishing on 
the way in deep water upon the exposed ocean coast. 
I had a rather exciting adventure. 

I drove down in the early morning from the Del 
Monte, and the day was very promising for a fair 
breeze to sail up with, from the west. We started 
along favorably and I found the salmon, as I ex- 
pected, in the outside waters, taking in several at 
the commencement. The breeze freshened up a good 
deal, giving us all our sail and boat could carry, 
with the sea continually rising; and we, sailing along 
in its trough, had to turn west repeatedly from 
our northerly course to avoid the combing waves 
which threatened to swamp us. We, however, kept 
on, though it would have been better to have returned 
to Carmelo, for the tide was setting in toward the 
rocky shore, where no harbor of refuge existed. 

The breeze continually freshened, most unusual 
for the season, and finally increased beyond the 
capacity of our sail, reefed as we had it, to with- 
stand, and we had to take it in, and depend upon our 
oars for getting on. So we pulled on for hours in 



356 Reminiscences of 

our heavy boat with the waves increasing in magni- 
tude, compelhng us to swing around head-on west 
every time a top wave would reach us, to keep out 
the water. As it was, we were soon drenched, and 
bucket baiUng was necessitated. 

When we reached half way, we had our worst call 
off the string of seal rocks and resorts of sea-lions, 
which give such picturesque effect to the seventeen- 
mile beach drive of the Del Monte. It seemed as if 
the strong inflowing tide and the gale would set us 
into this foaming region. Despite the threatening 
conditions it was a beautiful sight, on this day of 
sunny brightness, with the transparency and various 
hues given to the oncoming green waves which rode 
in majestic order, with graceful crests. Upon the 
other side were the spouting rocks, and the foaming 
washes of the broken waves. It was a case of being 
between the devil and the deep sea. 

Here my most aged boatman, worn out with 
strenuous labor, suddenly pulled in his oar, and 
swore he would not pull another stroke to save his 
life, naming two of his former associates who had 
lost their lives on a similar occasion upon the seal 
rocks. I quit my bailing for him, and took the oar. 
We mastered Point Lobos, but did not dock our boat 
at the Monterey pier until eleven o'clock at night, 
having been fifteen hours in passage. 



IT was my fortune to visit the Territory of New Mex- 
ico a ntmiber of times, such visits extending 
over a period of twenty-five years. My first visit 
was diu-ing the building of the Atchison, Topeka and 
Santa Fe railroad, when the conditions of the Terri- 



A Sportsman 357 

tory were much unsettled, and when no other section 
of the country could have equalled it in lawlessness 
and rough life. In relating the experiences I had 
there, which were fraught with so many unpleasant 
incidents, which I do not look back upon with par- 
ticular satisfaction, I have some doubt if my readers 
may not look at them with some degree of incredulity, 
and especially with wonderment that I should have 
submitted myself to such experiences. But we do not 
know what may befall us in our movements, and once 
engaged we are usually necessitated to keep on, and 
my recitations will be of simple facts as they occurred. 

The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad was 
then bmlding rapidly along the Rio Grande, having 
been diverted from its proposed direction at the town 
of Pueblo, in Colorado, by the opposition of the Denver 
and Rio Grande railroad, which claimed the right 
of way up the Arkansas River into the mining regions 
of the Rocky Mountains. This route was through 
a narrow gorge, where only space existed for many 
miles for one railroad, and the dispute which occurred 
led to an array of armed forces of several thousand 
men, which threatened the peace of the whole Terri- 
tory, and was finally settled in favor of the Denver and 
Rio Grande railroad by its payment in compromise 
to the Santa F^ railroad of about a million dollars. 

Upon this settlement, the latter road, being com- 
pelled to go somewhere from the weight of its mo- 
mentum arising from the capital pledged and the 
eager spirit of building which then prevailed, ptirsued 
its course from La Junta, east of Pueblo, near the 
New Mexico line, into that Territory, which, seemingly, 
was about as sterile and unpromising a region as could 



358 Reminiscences of 

be presented, especially in contrast with the fertile 
and promising State of Kansas, which the road had 
passed through. 

The Territory of New Mexico is bordered on the 
south by the republic of Mexico, and on the north by 
Colorado, and on the west by the Territory of Ari- 
zona, and is larger than all the New England States 
with New York State combined. I had little idea on 
my first visit I should have so much to do with it, 
which occasioned many other visits. 

The Territory presents the most barren aspect of 
any region in the republic, since the Great Ameri- 
can Desert, depicted upon the maps of our childhood 
as extending over the immense area from the Mis- 
souri River to California, has been chased down in 
limits to New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada; and 
the mighty plains of the supposed desert between the 
river and the Rocky Mountains produced last year, 
of corn alone, more than sufficient, if packed in a 
continuous train of cars, to reach twice around the 
world. 

Excepting about the Rio Grande — ^which spreads 
out extensively in its passage through the centre of 
the Territory, and along other streams tributaries of 
the Rio Grande — ^but few limited cultivable tracts 
exist without irrigation. A large portion of the 
territory consists of dreary plains and mountain 
ranges. The population was, and still is, largely 
Mexican, with perhaps one-tenth Pueblo Indians, 
living in villages of their own, and perhaps as many 
Apaches, Navajos and Mescallaros. The Territory is 
less pronounced in mineral values than any of the 
western mountainous States, but has a most healthful 



A Sportsman 359 

climate, and abounds in many mineral springs of 
undoubted curative qualities. 

Could the ancient history of the region, now un- 
known excepting from the traces left, be recorded, it 
would be most interesting, as probably with the lower 
part of Colorado; judging from the ruins of large 
stone community buildings, cave-dwellings, towers on 
commanding hills, and extensive irrigating canals 
and aqueducts, it was likely at one time to have been 
more densely settled by the predecessors of the pres- 
ent Pueblo Indians, known as the Anahuacs and Tol- 
tecs, estimated by the great Von Humboldt in his 
Systeme du Monde to have settled here in the year 
648 and to have flourished in this region for several 
centuries. 

From these descended the Aztecs, who, in the 
eleventh century, founded the City of Mexico at 
Lake Tezcuco, as found by Cortez at the time of 
the Spanish invasion. This conclusion was also ar- 
rived at by the early chronicler Abbe Clavigero, 
from the established traditions of Mexico that the 
south-flowing immigration into Mexico, and beyond 
to the land of the Incas, proceeded from the region 
now known as New Mexico and Arizona. Here Coro- 
nado, the lieutenant of Cortez, made his famous 
expediton, in 1540, in search of the traditional king- 
dom and seven cities of Cibola, where greater wealth 
was expected to be obtained. 

But this is not a history of New Mexico and Arizona, 
of which I could give many pages, and have given 
elsewhere in publications. 

The numerous cave-dwellings, difficult of approach, 
and the watch-towers, and numerous ruins of buildings 



360 Reminiscences of 

where the entrances were high up, and only reached 
by ladders, which could be withdrawn, all indicate 
that these were periods in the history of this Toltec 
and Anahuac habitation when human life was in 
great peril from warlike tribes, and show that 
in the two centuries preceding white occupation 
a very considerable extermination had occurred; 
and even in the nineteenth century the accounts 
of massacres and spoliation were of an extremity 
to which those of the early settlers of New England 
from the Indians were of light circumstance in com- 
parison. 

I have had occasion to search the church records 
in New Mexico by employed assistants to a large 
extent for tracing genealogical descents, to ascertain 
existing and unknown interests. After the Spanish 
occupation, large tracts of land were awarded by the 
kingdom of Spain to Spaniards as an inducement 
for their settlement in the new regions acquired, 
which were largely availed of. These settlers had 
no difficulty in dominating the Pueblo natives of 
New Mexico, who were industrious and hospitable 
and non-warring, as of to-day, and united with them 
in mutual defence against the warlike tribes who, 
from prehistoric times, committed great ravages. 
Under the customs of the Catholic faith in New Mex- 
ico, most particular records since 1700 have been 
made in the church archives, of births, deaths and 
marriages, and the details of such in many instances 
are given with extended references, faithfully tran- 
scribed by the official recorders, so that a remarkably 
accurate recitation occurs of families, of deaths and 
names of relatives, and causes of death; and I have 



A sportsman 361 

been struck with surprise to observe the large numbers 
who had been killed by Indians — numerous instances 
where whole families had been so destroyed, and 
all families seemed to have suffered in this respect. 
I am acquainted with a young man who, out of twelve 
uncles and aunts, had eleven killed by Indians. 
Until the Apaches were lately secured upon a reser- 
vation, and the Navajos some time before, yearly 
massacres were common, but happily relieved - in 
recent years. 

The Spaniards, ever cruel and aggressive, and 
feeling secure in their possession, finally carried 
their inhuman treatment of the Pueblos to such an 
extent that they rose in unanimous action on the 
13th of August, in 1680, at a given signal, and very 
nearly exterminated every Spaniard in the region, 
amounting to several thousands — men, women and 
children. This was a most remarkable revolution, 
since no intimation of the unanimous uprising was 
given, excepting that of two servants of the Spanish 
governor at Santa F6, two days before the uprising. 
The governor had barely time to concentrate his 
small military force of a few hundred, when he was 
surrounded by several thousand natives, by whom he 
was harassed for several days at great peril, and 
from whom he was compelled to retreat as a last 
resort, and succeeded in reaching Isleta, some sixty 
miles south, where he was re-enforced by several 
hundred more Spaniards — the only surviving ones 
in the region who had escaped massacre. Thus sup- 
ported he sustained himself for a while, when a fur- 
ther general retreat was made on foot down the Rio 
Grande two hundred miles to El Paso, which he 



3^2 Reminiscences of 

succeeded in reaching in a most inclement season, 
largely diminished in force, from suffering and 
privations of exceptional character. Here he made 
a sustained stand, being re-enforced by a small force 
from Chihuahua, but insufficient to sustain an ag- 
gressive movement. 

Thus was New Mexico relieved from oppression, 
and the natives, imitating the iconoclasts of the Dark 
Ages, proceeded in the destruction of all that per- 
tained to Spanish dominion. All the priests had 
been killed and all the Catholic churches and crosses 
erected were levelled to earth. All the manuscripts, 
documents and records left in the archives of Santa 
Fe were burned or cast to the winds, destroying all 
history of the Spanish rule for nearly a hundred years. 

The mines, which had been worked by the enslaved 
Indians with such suffering, were covered over and 
obliterated as much as possible, many of which are 
still lost. 

More than ten thousand who had been compelled 
to renounce their religion for the Catholic faith, and 
had received the sacrament of baptism from a sprink- 
ling broom of expiation, renounced their hopes of 
salvation under the cross, and returned to their an- 
cient forms and superstitions. 

While the Spanish governor held El Paso on the 
Texas line for a period of two or three years by re- 
enforcements from Mexico, and made occasional 
forays up the Rio Grande, little material benefit was 
gained, and he found it necessary to withdraw to the 
City of Mexico. This left the Pueblos in full pos- 
session until the year 1695, when the country was 
retaken most effectually under General Zapata, with 



A Sportsman 363 

a large force, and was held securely until 1837 under 
Spanish dominion. At this period an insurrection 
among the Spaniards occurred, the dissatisfied ele- 
ment being largely aided by the Pueblos, and by 
raids from the Texas Comanches, who massacred 
and pillaged alike the Pueblos and Spanairds. Then 
the Apaches and Navajos, powerful tribes, inflexible 
foes of the Spaniards, were aroused to action and com- 
mitted frightful ravages, and the Spanish government 
trembled in the scale, but finally sustained itself 
until the Mexican War of 1846, when General Kearney 
made his memorable march with his regiment across 
the continent to California, subjecting New Mexico 
and establishing a provisional government at Santa Fe. 

Then came the cessation of the Mexican War under 
the Guadalupe Hidalgo treaty of 1848 with Mexico, 
and the acquisition of that enormous stretch of country 
from above Texas and the Mexican border to British 
Columbia, from out of which so many States and 
Territories have been added to the American Union. 
This seizure of territory in its importance has never 
been equalled in the records of history as an aggres- 
sive exhibition of power shown by the United States 
over a comparatively defenceless foe. 

Our party followed the railroad down to about the 
middle of the Territory, and left it at the Islet a Pueblo 
for the purpose of making our way west to the Zuni 
Pueblo, a hundred and twenty miles or more. Our 
party comprised five, including one guide, who ac- 
companied us with a pack mule, carrying supplies 
and cooking utensils. Mounted and well armed with 
repeating rifles and side arms we felt pretty well 
secured for an advance through a mountainous and 



364 Reminiscences of 

desert country, quite unsettled, excepting by a few 
sheep- and cattle-men, sparsely distributed in the 
few limited localities where springs and feed were 
found. The greater part of the region consisted 
of mountains and sandy plains of barren aspect. 

Rumors of troublesome Indians being about put 
us on our guard, but such rumors were more or less 
chronic in those parts, and we did not consider them 
a sufficient deterrent, being more afraid of the reck- 
less white element, then plentiful enough in the 
country, and which we expected soon to get out of 
reach of. But we made a bad reckoning in respect 
of Indians, as we found out the first day. 

We resolutely started out from the little settle- 
ment of a few houses at an early hour, and fording 
the Rio Grande ascended an elevated plateau, which 
we crossed for seven or eight miles to a range of high 
hills, which extended for some twenty miles, necessary 
to cross before reaching an open country where 
we expected to camp for the night. There was 
no timber, and we kept as much as possible on the 
ridges and the open to avoid a possible ambuscade, 
keeping out our guide in advance, with his pack 
mule in the rear. It was near noon, and we were 
expecting to halt shortly for our midday meal at 
a spring our guide knew of. 

We had been told to look out carefully at this 
spring, for if there were any Indians about they 
were likely to be in that vicinity. We saw no signs, 
and held up near the spring, which was at a little 
sloping hillside, and from which, on one side, arose 
a somewhat precipitous rocky bluff, perhaps two hun- 
dred feet high. As we dismounted I happened to 



A Sportsman 365 

look up to the top of this bltiff, and thought I saw a 
flashing gleam of sunlight reflected from a metallic 
substance and called attention to it. We all then saw 
flitting for a moment the forms of two or three Indians 
concealing themselves behind some projecting rocks 
at the top, and a gleaming rifle barrel apparently- 
pointed directly at us. The appearance we then 
exhibited is more ludicrous at this moment, in con- 
templation, than it was then. Our horses, mine being 
already picketed, were abandoned. Our guide and 
two others of the party, with their rifles, got behind 
the only three small trees adjacent, and Captain 
Slawson, a mining expert I had taken along — ^who 
was afterwards killed by Indians upon another ex- 
cursion we made, further south — more experienced 
with Indians than any one of us, excepting our guide, 
endeavored to get behind his mustang, which par- 
took of the excitement we felt, and insisted upon 
getting on the wrong side. My own gun, being near 
my picketed horse, I had no time to regain, and 
seeing near a prospecting mining shaft about fifteen 
feet deep, with a log down it with steps cut for de- 
scending, and feeling that I had no moments to spare, 
I rushed down it for temporary relief; but not to 
the bottom, for I heard an ominous sound altogether 
too familar to my ears, which arrested my further 
progress, and looking down at the bottom saw what 
at first sight I thought a curled ram's horn, but 
immediately saw was an enormous rattlesnake coiled 
for action, with vibratory tail. It is needless to say 
I stood at rest, safe for the moment from both enemies. 
Rattlesnakes are very plentiful in some parts of 
New Mexico, more so than I have ever seen else- 



366 Reminiscences of 

where, and occasion more or less loss to cattle, though 
seldom striking men, who are warned of their prox- 
imity by ominous rattling, and they have a habit of fall- 
ing into old mining shafts, and these will hold them 
from escape for weeks, until death finally gives release. 

Hearing no shots I cautiously looked out of my 
haven, and saw our party on guard, and that no firing 
had occurred from either side. This state of sus- 
pense continued for a while longer, and from Slaw- 
son's not having been fired at while getting control 
of his horse it was concluded that we had better 
pull out as soon as possible and retrace our way 
to the Rio Grande. Securing our horses we all mounted 
and retired without molestation. 

It was our view that the Indians were either out 
of ammunition, or limited in number, or, if in force, 
were opposed to taking the risk as situated, but might 
attempt to head us off elsewhere on our route. We 
therefore, without indulging in the refreshments we 
had expected, made as rapid time as we could back 
again with due caution, and felt much relief when we 
arrived on the open mesa, where little risk of being 
ambuscaded would occur. 

We found, after arriving at the Rio Grande settle- 
ment, fresh reports of Mescallaro Indians, a branch 
of the Apaches, having been heard from in the moun- 
tains we were in, and also that the Apaches were 
off their reservation below in Grant County, and 
were committing many destructive raids. This con- 
vinced us it was not prudent to attempt our visit 
to the Zufii reservation, remote from railroad and 
settlements of whites; and as the Santa Fe railroad 
was just being completed to Deming, further south. 



A Sportsman 3^7 

to meet there the Southern Pacific from CaUfornia, we 
concluded to push on, and from Deming go on to the 
west for fifty or a hundred miles, where glowing ac- 
counts of antelope, deer, wild turkeys and bear, as well 
as of mineral deposits of great value, would be realized. 

But we found these reports to be less than depicted. 
There poor Captain Slawson met his death, a most 
fearless man, and reckless of danger. He was in- 
duced to join an excursion into the Mogollon range 
of mountains, where the Apaches, in detached parties, 
were on the warpath. The party was composed of 
four — Captain Slawson, J. P. Risque, Jack Magruder 
and G. P. Smith — all acquaintances of mine. I was 
invited to accompany them, but would not for a 
moment consider it under the existing conditions. 

Magruder, the only survivor, gave me an account 
of the result. The second day out from Silver City, 
while passing mounted on trail through a ravine, and 
while approaching a group of small trees and under- 
brush, a remark was made by Magruder that it was 
a good place for Indians to hide in. No sooner said 
than Slawson, being in the lead, answered: "There 
are your Indians, Jack," and at the moment they 
were fired upon. All but Magruder fell mortally 
wounded, shot through. A dozen Apaches rushed 
upon them, firing as they came. Magruder, being 
untouched, had his horse fall with him, from which 
he disengaged himself, and with his repeating rifle 
rushed to the shelter of an adjoining boulder, being 
repeatedly fired at, but escaping all the bullets. From 
the boulder he held the Indians off and managed to 
work his way up the hill among the rocks behind 
him, escaping all the shots; and, being a good shot 



368 Reminiscences of 

himself, and abundantly supplied with cartridges, 
either killed or wounded several of the Indians, which 
enabled him — though at great risk — to extend the 
distance between them. 

Over an hour he held them off without being 
wounded, when he observed at a distance two of the 
Indians making a circuit around to get at his rear. 
He confessed to feeling that his hour had about come, 
dark was approaching, and it became a serious 
question if he could hold out long. 

Looking back in his retreating, he observed the 
cribbing of a miner's tunnel up the hill beyond, for 
which he made a great run and succeeded in reach- 
ing it. Upon entering this tunnel he was surprised 
to see a dim light a long distance in, which he made 
for, and was still more surprised to find two miners 
at work there, entirely oblivious of the firing which 
had been going on. Both were armed, and when 
acquainted with the situation put out their candles 
and awaited the issue, intently watching the mouth 
of the tunnel for dusky forms. But none came, and 
in a silent hour of the night the three men stole forth 
to the cabin of the two miners, half a mile off, which 
they found undisturbed, and from there made their 
way to the nearest settlement. 

From Isleta we pushed on by the freshly built 
railroad to Deming nearly to the south end of the 
Territory, arriving there at an early hour. Here, on 
this day of our arrival, the important connection of the 
Santa Fe railroad was made with the Southern Pacific 
railroad from California — a meeting of two great rail- 
roads which for many months had been pushing on 
for this connection. 



A Sportsman 369 

Thousands of workmen had been employed, and 
a rivalry had existed for an advantage of each rail- 
road over the other. Here a meeting had occurred 
on the level plains, far from any settlements or towns, 
at a spot destined to be one of importance; not only 
from the connection of the two railroads now meet- 
ing, but from the junction of two other railroads 
from the south, those of the Galveston, Harrisburg 
and San Antonio and the Texas Pacific. 

A fifth railroad has since been connected at Dem- 
ing, built by the writer with some associates, pro- 
ceeding north to Silver City. No spot in the 
region could have been more advantageously se- 
lected, having many mountainous peaks within a 
range of from forty to fifty miles, which seemed in 
most instances to have been pushed up from the level 
plains without the accompaniment of foothills. 

Water, so wanting in New Mexico, is found here 
in bountiful quantity and good quality, but a few 
feet beneath the surface, and the surrounding soil 
is superior for cultivation. 

The situation was a very interesting one upon 
our arrival that sunny morning; not only from the 
large number of men employed, but from the im- 
portance of the railroad connection, unequalled be- 
fore in the annals of railroad building, with the ex- 
ception of that of the Union Pacific and Central 
Pacific roads at Promontory in Utah in 1869. Be- 
fore we reached the town we found a large force 
engaged in ballasting the newly-laid rails, and many 
teams passing up and down the track. 

At the connecting point, from fifty to a hundred 
tents were pitched, with a motley collection of teams, 



370 Reminiscences of 

representing the caravans which had been moving along 
with the building roads, now meeting at a given centre, 
which was supposed to be that of the new town. 

Many of those teams represented the feature which 
has been represented in the vernacular of the country 
as "hell on wheels," comprising those convenient 
vehicles accompanying railroad building, ' to accom- 
modate men, horses and mules with food, and others 
fitted up as well as tents, to supply the superior an- 
imal with spirituous refreshments and attending re- 
creations in the way of cards and dice. 

There were long rows of board tables, convenient 
in their light construction for removal, loaded sub- 
stantially with delicacies usual on such occasions — 
beans, shoulders of beef, fried nuggets of bacon, 
slabs of perfectly fresh bread steaming hot, pots 
of coffee, and various other attractive condiments. 

Many of the tents were fitted up as drinking and 
gambling saloons, from which proceeded the melody 
of violins and flutes, with accordion accompani- 
ments. The keepers of many of these adjunctive 
resorts were of the most abandoned and reckless 
cast, as much so as one could expect to find, and one 
could see in the vicious lines of their faces, and beady 
eyes, that they had reached the bottom Imes of 
desperate life. 

Two outfits of this character had now come to- 
gether, composed of the lowest order of ruffians to 
be found anywhere, and knowing that their oppor- 
tunities for plunder were about to vanish with the 
paid-off, departing laborers, were displaying imusual 
activity in their last efforts. 

No sooner had we landed than we were surrounded 



A Sportsman 371 

by a score of hard-looking characters, who viewed us 
with interest, and in probable expectation of gaining 
profit from our advent. Proffers of assistance in carry- 
ing our hand-baggage were given, which we declined, 
holding firmly to our possessions. We had nothing to 
do but look about and patiently wait for the convey- 
ance we had telegraphed for two days before to Silver 
City, fifty miles distant, which we assumed would 
arrive during the day, to carry us on to Hudson. The 
latter place was situated twenty-five miles distant, 
midway between Deming and Silver City, the only set- 
tlement on the route where a rough sort of a hotel 
existed, carried on by Hudson, a long time settled in 
the region. 

Two long freight trains from California stood on a 
hastily constructed siding, which were being unloaded. 
One of the trains had a car-load of second-class pas- 
sengers bound east, and an express car. The latter 
had been fitted up as a telegraph and business ofhce 
and here was our first introduction to Tucker, the ex- 
press agent, a stout, resolute-looking man, who had 
a pair of large navy revolvers hanging from his hip. 
To him we were indebted for attention, and his ap- 
pearance gave confidence. He was busily engaged in 
the duties of his work and, with the telegraph operator, ' 
appeared to be in full charge of the railroad freight 
and express business. 

Acquainting him with our situation, waiting for our 
transportation, he permitted us to deposit our baggage 
in the end of his car, promising to take care of it. It 
was evident that he was well fitted for the position he 
occupied, and perfectly fearless of the crowd which 
honored us with their pressing attentions, and we saw 



372 Reminiscences of 

clearly that the assemblage stood in appreciative awe 
of him; and he had undoubtedly a contingent force of 
railroad employes who could be speedily called upon 
for aid whenever it might be required. 

He was a noted and remarkable character, this 
Tucker, as will afterward be seen from what I shall 
relate of him, as I had occasion to see and learn much 
of him after becoming well acquainted during my many 
visits to New Mexico. 

Together we sauntered about more or less, keep- 
ing well together and on guard, continually followed 
by hangers-on, and one of our party, Adams, a young 
man from Springfield, Mass., met with two advent- 
ures not pleasant. He was somewhat difficult to 
keep in line, and incautiously entered one of the tents 
we were passing — ^where some minerals were displayed 
on a table near the entrance. The interior was a 
drinking saloon (which he had not noticed), and 
no sooner had he entered than a burly ruffian in- 
vited him to throw dice for a small sum, which he 
declined ; and, having satisfied his curiosity, he started 
to go out, when the ruffian blocked the outlet and 
said he must stand drinks for the half-dozen inmates. 
Alarmed, he did so, as the easiest method of escaping, 
just as we were returning to look for him, and related 
his amusing experience. Somewhat startled by the 
occurrence and having several hundred dollars about 
him, and in anticipation of a possible hold-up, he took 
out his roll of bills when unobserved, and tucked it 
down next to his heel in one of his stockings. But we 
were not held up, and at night when looking for his 
roll of money he found it had worked out and was 
lost, and he never saw it again. 



A Sportsman 373 

Noon came, but no team for us, and we took our 
dinner at one of the tables, beginning to feel ap- 
prehensive that we might be left over for the night — 
not a pleasant prospect. Four o'clock came, but no 
team. It was time for some action and I consulted 
Tucker. He suggested that we should strike out 
among the straggling stunted growth of bushes in 
the neighborhood and camp there, as his car and 
every accommodation was crowded full. A South- 
em Pacific palace sleeping car stood on a siding about 
a hundred rods beyond the settlement, left by some 
of the minor officers of the railroad, who had gone 
off to Silver City for two or three days, and had left 
strict orders that it should not be occupied during 
their absence, and no one about had any authority 
to allow it. I found the telegraph was working 
direct to San Francisco, and knowing Mr. A. N. 
Towne, manager of the Southern Pacific, very well, 
I concluded to try and reach him on the wire and 
see if I could not get permission to take the car ; con- 
cluding, if I could not get an answer in season, that 
we would strike out for the bush at dark, and locating 
first temporarily would at a later hour move off 
a mile or more still further away, where we could 
rest safely until morning. 

As dusk came on we were about ready to move out, 
when an answer came from Mr. Towne giving us the 
car. Taking our hand baggage, and with our tele- 
gram certified to by Tucker, we started off for the 
car, escorted by a body-guard of about a score of 
ruffians. We found the car firmly locked, with its 
curtains closely drawn down, in charge of a colored 
porter, who paid no attention to our knocks and 



374 Reminiscences of 

banging on the door, which our sohcitous friends 
insisted upon aiding. We finally got the porter 
to take our telegram thrust under the door, and 
upon reading it he cautiously opened sufficient for 
us to squeeze through, having some trouble in keeping 
out our officious friends, who said we should kill the 
damned nigger for keeping gentlemen waiting. The 
door closed locked, to the intense disgust of our body- 
guard, who vented their disappointment in bad 
words, banging knocks, and calls for several moments, 
when they retired with oaths not agreeable to hear. 

I asked Tucker before leaving if he thought there 
would be any danger of an attack on the car. He 
said, "No; if there is any, shoot to kill, and we'll be 
up there on the run." And as he left, he repeated 
in the hearing of some of our body-guard, "Have 
a good night's rest, and if there is any trouble, fire a 
shot, and we '11 be up there quick. " 

We got along very comfortably until about ten 
o'clock, when our porter, who was a pretty well 
frightened fellow, and kept an attentive ear, informed 
us that a squad of men was coming up the track 
toward us. Sure enough, we saw them by peeping 
under the curtain at the door and immediately ex- 
tinguished the few lights we had burning. The 
squad soon arrived, and for a while we heard them 
conversing at the car end, followed by a knock at 
the door, to which we paid no attention. 

Several more vigorous knocks followed, with a 
banging sufficient to have awakened us from sleep, 
if we had been so engaged, and a rough voice 
notified us that an important telegram had been 
received. 



A Sportsman 375 

Divided upon each side of the end of the car, with- 
out making any response, we sat calmly with our 
repeating rifles in hand, fully prepared for any emer- 
gency which might occur, and determined to fire upon 
any intruders who might come in upon a forcible entry. 

The united strength of several was evidently ex- 
erted in pressure upon the door, but without avail. 
Upon this being repeated, with violent kicking. Captain 
Slawson called out asking what the matter was, 
and was answered that an order had been received 
to get into the car. The Captain called out in^ a 
loud voice that no one could come in until morning, 
and if any forcible entrance was made, there would 
be an immediate killing. 

Loose railroad ties were strewn about in the vicinity, 
and it occurred to us that one of these might be em- 
ployed as a battering-ram to stave in the door. The 
Captain heard a mention of this from the outside, and 
called out in a still louder voice that if they broke in 
the door they would surely be killed, for we were 
fully armed in readiness. This settled the affair, and 
our callers retired after some further talk among 
themselves, well aware that results too serious for 
them would occur from any further advances. To- 
ward morning we were awakened by our porter, 
who gave us word that some mysterious actions 
were going on beneath our car, and feared we were 
going to be blown up. We aroused quickly in response, 
and surely there were curious proceedings going on 
below. A slight investigation, however, put us fat 
ease, as we found the cause of tnis noise proceeded 
from coyotes disputing for bones and offal thrown out 
by the porter. 



376 Reminiscences of 

We heard a number of pistol shots during the 
night proceeding from the tented town, which we 
had no curiosity to investigate, but found in the 
morning that one man had been killed and several 
wounded — ^which accounted for the shots — resulting 
from a misunderstanding between some gentlemen 
of the town. There was no officer of the law at the 
settlement, but one Jack Smith claimed to be a 
sheriff, and exercised his authority that night with 
several assistants in holding up and going through 
a car-load of second-class passengers, that had ar- 
rived in the evening from California and was held 
over on the track for proceeding north the follow- 
ing day. 

This fraudulently assumed sheriff, in the middle 
of the night, with half a dozen drunken assistants, 
stood up and robbed every one of the passengers 
on this car, assaulting and knocking down several 
of the victims who stopped to protest, or were too 
slow in handing over. In fact, no official agent of 
the law existed at the settlement, where every one 
was dependent upon himself or his friends. 

The conditions at Deming, New Mexico, men- 
tioned, reminded me of that which existed at Chey- 
enne in Wyoming Territory in the winter of 1867, 
during the building of the Union Pacific railroad 
on its way to Utah to connect with the Central 
Pacific railroad from California. The " hell on wheels " 
camped here had signalized itself in a particularly 
atrocious manner at Julesburgh while on its way 
accompanying the railroad, and had for some 
weeks made a rest at ' the then moderate settle- 
ment of Cheyenne, where its force was largely 



A Sportsman 377 

augmented by numerous ruffians from the surround- 
ing region, among whom were many bushwhackers 
from Missouri, reUcs of the Civil War who had been 
scattered and driven west by the successful Union 
army, and who largely infested Colorado and Montana, 
where many were shot or strung up for their misdeeds. 
The night I came into Cheyenne at the terminus of the 
railroad, to remain over night and take a conveyance 
for Denver the following morning, something over a 
hundred miles distant, a most unusual affair occurred. 
A crisis had arrived. The ''Hellers" had become so ag- 
gressive and arrogant, that a secret action had been 
determined upon by the peaceful and law-abiding 
residents of the town, to get rid of the turbulent 
element, which had become so powerful as to seri- 
ously threaten their safety. 

Boasts had been made by the Hellers that they 
proposed to run the town, and if they were interfered 
with they would bum it up. A fire among the then 
existing rows of wooden buildings, with the prevailing 
high winds, was a subject to consider seriously. From 
a conflagration the Hellers were comparatively safe, 
as their array of tents, booths and vehicles were 
on one side of the town, before which they paraded 
in force well armed every day. The plan of the towns- 
men was well carried out that night, when a hundred 
men with repeating rifles at midnight appeared in 
front of "Hell Town," calling for the surrender of the 
most prominent Hellers who had boasted of their 
ability to regulate and burn the town if they chose. 

A few defiantly stepped out from the tents in re- 
sponse, who were instantly shot down in their tracks. 
Ample notice had been given for the Hellers to 



37^ Reminiscences of 

remove, which they had paid no attention to. A 
volley of bullets was fired through the tops of the 
tents and sleeping wagons, from which all of the 
occupants hastily retired by the rear to the bushes 
beyond, and although a number of shots were fired 
in the retreat at the vigilant s, none were hit. The 
town had been prepared and was on guard, and three 
or four of the Hellers found out in the streets were 
shot down. I slept so soundly that I did not hear 
the shots, but in the morning found the little town 
in agitation. But order was restored, and at an 
early hour the Hellers removed their effects several 
miles beyond the town on the line of the building 
railroad. 

Committees of order and protection were formed, 
and proper guards were established. All arriving in 
town were disarmed, and had their weapons returned 
to them upon departure. The Hellers, well known, 
gave the town a wide berth. When I returned a 
few weeks afterward to take the cars for the East, 
I found the town largely increased and in good order. 
The "hell on wheels" had gone far on westward. I 
was shown an adjacent graveyard devoted to the 
burial of roughs, where I was informed over a score 
of bodies rested, without one occupant who had died 
a natural death. 

In the forenoon, about ten o'clock, our convey- 
ance arrived — an open wagon with four horses — and 
we were glad to leave the interesting town of Dem- 
ing, somewhat perhaps to the regret of sundry in- 
dividuals who insisted upon aiding us in storing 
away our baggage. A detachment of troops from 
the Fort Bayard government station, forty miles 



A Sportsman 379 

distant, arrived at Deming that day to assist in pre- 
serving order, at the request of the railroad people. 

In a few hours we arrived at the nearest settle- 
ment from Deming, twenty-five miles distant, at 
the celebrated Hot Spring, owned by one Hudson, 
who conducted a moderate hotel for the conven- 
ience of invalids and others. This spring was of a 
remarkable character, and of ancient origin, having 
been referred to by the earliest travellers in the region 
between two and three hundred years ago. It has 
formed a basin of fifty feet in width, and some fifteen 
feet in depth above the surrounding level, formed 
by the debris of overflowing water during past cen- 
turies. The water was clear and greenish and bubbled 
up plentifully from the bottom of the basin. Its 
heat was almost up to a boiling temperature when 
it escapes from the bottom, and about the banks 
of the pool will pretty ' well cook eggs in twelve or 
fifteen minutes. The water in the banks being higher 
than the surrounding land is conveyed in a ditch 
for irrigating a spacious garden, where vegetables, 
flowers, and vines are grown, as well as fruit and 
ornamental trees ; and, although the water is not pure, 
is sufficiently free from impurities to answer for drink- 
ing, and is accounted by some to have favorable 
medicinal qualities, for which the spring is sought. 

It seems to be a universal habit with humanity, 
when discovering any springs which are off the line 
of purity, to ascribe curative qualities to them, 
and no doubt many are highly beneficial. Those of 
Saratoga, the Sulphur Springs of Virginia, the Hot 
Springs of Arkansas, those of Carlsbad, Vichy, and 
other localities are noted in this respect. Beneath 



380 Reminiscences of 

the city of Pueblo, Colorado, one of sixty thousand 
inhabitants, there is a large area of miles in extent 
where warm mineral waters of various quantities can 
be reached in from six hundred to twelve hundred 
feet below the surface, which have artesian pressure 
sufficient to convey the water up a hundred feet above 
the ground, and flow thousands of barrels a day. 

Besides the Hudson spring there are many others 
of a similar but minor character on the plains within 
twenty or thirty miles of the Hudson. The flow 
from the latter is of such quantity as to make a mod- 
erate-sized stream, which runs off for a considerable 
distance before being soaked up by the dry soil. 

While on the subject of springs, I will mention that 
New Mexico, a somewhat dry region during months 
of dry weather, abounds in many noted mineral 
springs of large volume. One I saw, the Berrendo, 
which broke out on a level plain, with a stream as 
large as a moderately sized man's body, which made 
a pool sufficient at all seasons to supply ten thou- 
sand cattle. At another place, where a large well was 
sunk twenty feet, it could not be proceeded with 
by further sinking, as water of fine quality flowed 
along at the bottom in a steady stream. 

The Membres stream in the mountains fifty miles 
west from Deming, to which we were proceeding 
and where we made headquarters — camping there 
for a few weeks, and where we found fairly good 
trout fishing — disappears in the ground thirty miles 
from Deming, but, having a flow beneath the surface, 
supplies the town with a bountiful supply of good 
water, reached from twenty to forty feet below the 
surface. This flow of water is drawn plentifully 



A Sportsman 381 

upon in the dry season by a large number of pumping 
wind-mills. 

After a rest of an hour or two at Hudson we drove 
on for the Membres Mountains, twenty-five miles 
further on, reaching there about dusk, and prepared 
a rough camp for the night, building a better one 
the following day. We had a terrible scare on the 
way. The subject of Apache Indians was one of 
more or less conversation. We were aware that 
they had lately gone off the government reservation 
some sixty miles from our neighborhood, but no reports 
had been given of their being anywhere near our vi- 
cinity, and the United States troops from Fort Bayard, 
near our route, had gone out in force after them. 

We had arrived in the foot-hills of the mountains, 
and it was mentioned that it would not be a very 
pleasant place to be met by Indians, for the road 
was narrow, and the neighboring hills, covered with 
pine growth, would afford fine opportunities for 
being waylaid. Looking well ahead, we were as- 
tounded to see two Indians with guns emerge from 
a ravine into the road, and walk along, followed 
shortly by several others likewise armed. It was 
a bad place for a scrimmage, as the road was too 
narrow to turn about in. We all leaped out with 
our repeating rifles, directing our driver to turn in 
and tie his horses in the brush by the road, while 
we separated on each side, prepared to make as vig- 
orous a stand as possible for life, as there could be 
no surrender to savages so notorious for their cruel- 
ties and torturing as the Apaches. Behind trees 
and rocks we scudded with alacrity. 

The Indians apparently had not observed us, as 



382 Reminiscences of 

they were some way ahead. Singular, we thought, 
that these keen-eyed savages had not seen us. As 
we regarded them in the distance we were wonder- 
fully pleased to see a white man on horseback emerge 
from the roadside and join them, and that he was 
in the uniform of our government, and we instantly 
conjectured that he was in charge of a party of Indian 
scouts, which proved to be the case. Our heart 
beatings began to subside, and we regained our seats 
in the wagon and drove on among them. They were 
a most villainous-looking troop, and paid no more 
attention to us than if we had not addressed them 
in the usual "How," "How." This sullen, cruel- 
looking band shortly after broke away and joined 
the Apaches from the reservation on the war-path, 
and committed many forays and murders among 
the scattered settlements of the southwestern parts 
of the Territory. These Indians were finally gathered 
in by the United States troops, after many long and 
wearisome folio wings directed by General Miles. 

Our camping place was in the Membres Valley, 
near the stream, where a few settlements of cattle- 
men and small farmers were, and a few miles above, 
the somewhat deserted mining town of Georgetown. 
We found deer plentiful in the neighboring moun- 
tains, which supplied us with meat, and from the 
streams obtained sufficient trout for our wants. 
Quail were plentiful, and an occasional wild turkey 
graced our table. A considerable Indian scare was 
on, which deterred us from going on to the White 
Mountains, and the Black range, from forty to fifty 
miles west, from which we had glowing accounts 
of game by those familiar with the regions. 



A Sportsman 383 

We had some apprehensions of danger from the 
proximity of desperate white men, cattle thieves 
who were having conflicts about us in the valley 
with the cattle-men, and they seemed in large force. 
This induced us to remove our camp west some ten 
miles to the Santa Rita Valley, where there were 
a number of deserted adobe buildings, besides a 
partly ruined fort built a century before by Spanish 
miners, where cannons were originally mounted to 
defend the workmen employed in the copper mines. 
These mines were very rich, containing much native 
copper, and were extensively worked in the eigh- 
teenth century, before any others on the continent 
now occupied by the United States, and for many 
years supplied old Mexico with its copper coinage. 
The copper from these mines was transported on 
mule's backs more than 1500 miles to the City of 
Mexico. Copper at that time was high in price, 
ruling from fifty to sixty cents a pound, now con- 
sidered high at fifteen cents. From 1837 to 1862 
these mines ceased to be worked, owing to the un- 
settled condition of a region where the Apache Indians 
held the country in tribute. 

In 1863 the Confederate forces, being in want of 
cannon, invaded the region and had the mines worked 
for copper to the extent of over a hundred tons, 
which was transported across the country to Texas 
ports. After the war, until the time of my visit, the 
mines remained unworked until I became interested 
in them, and they have been worked continually 
since. These mines diverted me from the purpose 
I had of writing a history of New Mexico, as I did 
of Colorado in 1865. 



3^4 Reminiscences of 

We found the valley of considerable extent, 
surrounded by high hills, and a most pleasant place, 
having fine grazing for our horses, and good springs 
of water. Upon the summit of a high mountain 
rising east from the valley was an immense mono- 
lith of granite, having the form of a kneeling nun, 
visible for many miles from all directions, a prominent 
landmark visible for more than twenty miles. At 
one place, by the small stream which meandered 
through the valley, was an old peach orchard planted 
more than a century before, where the trees, dying 
of old age, had renewed themselves with new sprouts 
as the old trees fell away, and were now bearing fruit, 
though of an ordinary kind. We found very good sport 
about this valley, as deer were plentiful in the sur- 
rounding hills. 

When we returned to Deming — ^heretofore men- 
tioned — ^we found a great change had occurred. A 
large general depot was being built for the two roads. 
Many houses were going up, and order was pretty 
well sustained, although a good many rustlers were 
about. Tucker had been made sheriff, and had 
signalized his promotion by shooting down a num- 
ber of turbulent characters. When committing one 
of these acts, an immediate hearing occurred be- 
fore the local court, from which he received a speedy 
acquittal. When I came down to Deming some 
months afterward he had on the day of my arrival 
shot down a desperate character for whom a warrant 
was out, who had shot a cattle-man in the vicinity 
in a most unprovoked manner. 

Tucker had killed a partner of this man, for whom 
a warrant was out, who was slow about throwing 



A Sportsman 385 

up his hands in an arrest, and this last victim 
had openly threatened the life of Tucker in retali- 
ation. He came in on the day of his death while 
heavily under the influence of liquor for the purpose 
of carrying out his threat. Of this, Tucker was 
well advised. The man came in at the station on 
horseback, thoroughly armed, with his repeating 
rifle in hand, inquiring for Tucker. He rode up on 
the hotel platform and through an archway constructed 
in the hotel for foot-passengers to cross the tracks 
on each side. Meeting in this passageway one of 
the hotel employes, who held up his hands to warn 
him from passing, he knocked him down by a blow 
on the head from his gun, and passed through, dis- 
mounting on the other side, and after tying his horse 
proceeded to the restaurant in the hotel, where he 
seated himself with his rifle placed on the table in 
front of him, and called for some food. He seemed 
unable to eat anything, either from excitement, or 
the condition of his stomach. 

Tucker was apprised of the situation and on the 
alert. The man shortly rose from the table, and 
with rifle in hand made his way out to regain his 
horse. As he came out from the passageway. Tucker 
made his appearance from the hotel side, where 
he had been waiting, and promptly ordered hands 
up. Although the desperado was looking into the 
two barrels of a shotgun loaded with buckshot, he 
attempted to raise his own gun in defence, but be- 
fore he could raise it he fell, mortally wounded from 
the discharge of Tucker's gun, and the work of death 
was over. Tucker's shotgun, which he habitually 
carried when on the lookout for a close encounter, 



386 Reminiscences of 

had its barrels sawed off within six inches of the stock, 
and could be well stowed away beneath his coat, 
and this he kept loaded with buckshot. 

The body was lying in the railroad baggage-room, 
where it was a star attraction of the day. An in- 
quest had been held, and a court hearing, from which 
Tucker had been immediately acquitted, as acting 
in self-defence in the execution of his duty. The 
region was less another desperate ruffian, and I think 
the notches on Tucker's gun were well up to a dozen. 

Tucker was not left unmolested by the rough ele- 
ment, whose ranks he had depleted, and received 
several close calls from friends of the men he had 
put away. He told me that, however cautious he 
might be, he feared they would some day get the 
drop on him, and soon after this conversation, having 
one evening been shot at and slightly wounded, 
he pulled out from Deming for Ohio, his native State. 
He gave me what he considered valuable advice 
to be followed in close encounters when armed with 
his favorite weapon, a double-barrelled gun, sawed 
off short and loaded with buckshot — to shoot 
always for the stomach, for, if it did not immediately 
kill, it incapacitated the recipient from making 
any further resistance, owing to the deathly sickness 
which followed. I have never had an opportunity 
yet of testing the system. 

Within four years after the advent of the rail- 
road. Tucker had a list of seventy-odd names of bad 
men who he said had been disposed of by sudden 
and violent deaths in Grant County, in which Deming 
was situated. 

I proceeded from Deming with Captain Slawson 



A Sportsman 387 

and his assistant to Santa F^, the capital of the Terri- 
tory, which I made headquarters for some time, 
and frequently visited it during my trips to New 
Mexico, at one time staying there while Gen. Lew 
Wallace was governor of the Territory. I formed 
a very pleasant friendship with him, and we planned 
several excursions to take together in distant and 
unexplored points of the Territory for adventure 
and new discovery, to be accompanied by a detach- 
ment of soldiers, but which were never realized. 
At that time he was engaged in writing his cele- 
brated work Ben Hur and he would often read 
over to me portions he had written, which I much 
admired, little anticipating, however, the great at- 
tention this book would receive when published, 
as it has been more extensively circulated and read 
than any other of late days. We often dined and 
had pleasant smokes together. 

The Santa Fe railroad, which was hurriedly built 
through the Territory and from Deming to Arizona, 
met with more than the usual mishaps of newly 
built roads, and I waited one time for two weeks in 
Santa Fe, during the rainy season, for the road to 
be put in order from the washouts which occurred 
on the line north going to Colorado, and after leaving 
Santa F6 was a week in getting on to Colorado Springs, 
over a distance covered in usual time in a day. And 
one time, near Las Vegas, when we had halted the 
train, after going over a shaky place, the track and 
road-bed washed away behind us. The engine, cutting 
away from us, went on to investigate the conditions 
ahead, could not return, as the track broke away 
between us, and our train was thus left isolated 



388 Reminiscences of 

for a day and a half. Altogether our train waited 
for the repair of over twenty breaks, on our way to 
Colorado. 

The selection of route by this railroad was an un- 
fortunate one, which has cost the company many 
millions and will continue to be costly in the future 
during seasons of flood, until a radical change in 
route occurs. 

While in Santa Fe upon my first return from Deming, 
a friend of mine from New York, Mr. Ballou, arrived 
there, accompanied by General U. S. Grant, for the 
purpose of visiting a somewhat famous copper mining 
district, forty miles southwest in the Sandia Moun- 
tains, known as the Canon del Agua. I was invited 
to accompany them, which I did. I had previously 
arranged with Captain Slawson, a mining expert 
in my employ, and his assistant to meet me at the 
Mexican town of Bernalillo on the Rio Grande be- 
yond the district to which Mr. Ballou and General 
Grant were going. So this district was on my route, 
and I had several days to spare. We made the jour- 
ney comfortably in a day with a government ambu- 
lance wagon, drawn by four mules, furnished from the 
military station at Santa F^ to the General. 

We made our residence at the mines in the house 
of the mining superintendent, where accommodations 
had been prepared for us. I remained here for three 
days. General Grant having been President of the 
United States for two terms, and having rendered 
distinguished service to his country, was in conse- 
quence a most important man, and had been sought 
for by some parties interested in the mining property 
we were visiting, to take the presidency of a com- 



A Sportsman 389 

pany, which had been organized upon it. The pecun- 
iary condition of the retired President and General 
was not an independent one, and it is reasonable 
to suppose that he had a desire to improve it, and 
many opportunities had been presented to him by 
parties engaged in various enterprises to advance 
his fortune, and likewise benefit the proposers in the 
advantages to be gained from his prestige. 

In this instance, it was expected that he would 
take the presidency of the company which had been 
formed, with a salary equal to that he had received 
when President of the United States, of $25,000 
per annum. I am informed that he actually did 
take the presidency of the company, which he re- 
linquished after one day's holding, and the com- 
pany had an adverse result. During the two days 
after our arrival we made excursions on horseback 
over the property and its surroundings, and the 
General expressed himself as highly pleased with 
the result, and expressed the belief that the prop- 
erty presented a field of profitable exploitation for 
thousands of men for many years. This did not 
correspond with my own impression, which in my 
situation I had no occasion to express. 

I had an opportunity of observing General Grant 
during these three or four days, and was struck with 
his simplicity and reserved strength. He was pleasant 
and unreserved. His knowledge of the country in 
its geographical features was remarkable, as he was 
entirely correct, somewhat to the surprise of his 
hearers, in his estimates of distances from point to 
point, accounted for by his good memory of information 
acquired in his early days when stationed in New 



390 Reminiscences of 

Mexico as a lieutenant in the United States service. 
As a tactician he was eminent, possessing that fac- 
ulty characteristic of all great generals, from ancient 
times down to modern, which in General Grant's in- 
stance, coupled with military training and indomitable 
courage and persistence, gained for him the success 
he deserved. Beyond these traits so prominent, and 
of such incalculable value for the success of the Union 
armies, I failed to observe in him any conspicuous 
features of comprehensive greatness. The great bard 
tells us some are born to greatness, others achieve it, 
and others have it thrust upon them. Many live and 
die in obscurity, lacking the opportunity to display 
their particular merits. But the opportunities oc- 
curred for General Grant, Cromwell, Cortez, Lincoln, 
and dozens of others whose names are familiar from 
the pages of history. There are but few, however, 
who have been great in all senses, of whom our Washing- 
ton may be accounted one. A peculiarity of General 
Grant's most noticeable was his habit of incessant smok- 
ing. He seemed never without his friendly cigar. When 
he came from his chamber in the morning, it was with a 
lit cigar, and during the day it was only laid aside at 
meals, and accompanied him to his sleeping quarters. 

Going on from the Canon del Agua, I reached Ber- 
nalillo in a day's drive, finding Captain Slawson and 
assistant, and put up with Mr. Bebo, a Hebrew store- 
keeper established there. This Bebo was a good- 
natured, pleasant man, who had with his family carried 
on a country store for several years, who gave us com- 
fortable quarters. No hotel was in the place, and only a 
few houses were about, and these were of adobe and 
occupied by Mexicans. 



A Sportsman 391 

Bebo had written Captain Slawson that he had a 
most extensive and valuable copper property in the 
Sandia Mountains, the proposed examination of which 
had brought us here. According to Bebo's account, 
it surpassed any known elsewhere. He had never 
personally seen it, although he had its complete con- 
trol through an agent who had discovered it, and 
whom he had supplied with moderate means to keep 
it in hand. It could be reached in a few hours' travel 
from the town, and its existence, for various reasons, 
had been kept a profound secret, which was now 
to be divulged to me, a possible purchaser, in a most 
confidential manner. His man was to arrive from 
the mountains that afternoon, and the time had come 
for him to arrive. Sure enough, he came. A sorry- 
looking mule of stunted growth, mounted by a cavalier 
of ample form but dilapidated in general appearance, 
held up at the store door. His unshaved face, blotched 
with red splashes, and watery eyes, partly hidden 
by his flapping sombrero, were not attractive. 

He sat over a pair of well-worn saddle-bags, and 
about his waist was suspended a brace of revolvers. 
It was Jack Williams, the possessor of a burning 
secret about to be revealed. 

"Come in, Jack," said Bebo. 

" Yes, you bet I will, and I am half dead for a drink 
of whisky," answered Jack. 

"Well, come in and get one — and take off your 
belt," said Bebo; remarking to me in an undertone, 
as he passed by, "I have to do this, for Jack some- 
times gets a little high when he comes in and I have 
to put away his pistols." 

This was comforting, and Jack proceeded to the 



392 Reminiscences of 

rear of the store and rapidly emptied a medium-sized 
tumblerful of reddish fluid. He returned toward 
the front of the store, smacking his lips, and saying 
he felt "all right now." 

We stowed away for the night, and in the morn- 
ing, Jack, mounted on a mustang of Bebo's, and I, 
similarly mounted, left for the great mine, which 
no one but myself could be permitted to see. It was 
a drizzling, wet morning, and I went on with Jack, 
who was laboring under the influence of an evening's 
indulgence in red-eye, to the hills, while Slawson 
and his assistant took the trail for Jericho, the name 
of a settlement where Jack lived, and where we were 
to pass the night. Jack was very groggy, and, being 
supplied with a fresh bottle in his saddle-bags, took 
frequent libations to clear his sight, though he mis- 
took his directions several times and I began to doubt 
if he would be able to find his treasure. The sprinkle 
had turned into rain, and I wished I was well away 
from the prospective Golconda, which was getting to 
be a mixed feature. Over hills and valleys we crossed 
and criss-crossed without being able to find it, and 
finally I became a good deal alarmed, especially when 
Jack seemed to be approaching a maudlin condition. 

The mine was simply a myth and utterly worth- 
less. It was certainly not an occasion for me to 
express a disappointment, or my opinion of the mine, 
and of Jack's character, which now stood clearly 
revealed. I felt bound to conceal my disgust, and, 
after again pledging myself to the utmost secrecy, 
persuaded him to pilot the way to Jericho, where 
we arrived after dark. This Jericho was a " small 
Mexican settlement, composed of a few adobe houses, 



A Sportsman 393 

and had lately had a small gathering of miners at- 
tracted by alleged discoveries of gold mines in the 
vicinity, which had not proved of much value. 

Jack had offered the hospitality of his adobe, which 
I found was a miserable tumble-down place, leaky 
and unfurnished and hardly fit for a stable. I found 
Slawson had fallen in with an old mining man 
whom he had known in former years in Montana, 
and had gone up with his assistant across the little 
creek which ran through the settlement, to stop with 
him, and had arranged for me to stop there also. 
Jack was a good deal put out at this, as he was not 
on good terms with Brown the miner, who he claimed 
was inhabiting his adobe without paying any rent, 
and said he would have his scalp before he got through 
with him. But Brown cared little for this, being a reso- 
lute man, and said Jack did not own the house, as it be- 
longed to a Mexican who received five dollars a month 
for its rental. It looked cheerful to me when I reached 
it, where a blazing fireplace was giving out warmth, 
and the odor of fried bacon from the rear room made 
the hearty welcome I received still more agreeable. 
The adobe building I will describe, as it was the 
scene of a rather exciting episode that evening. 

It was composed of two rooms; the front living 
one was about twenty feet square, with a back one 
of ten by fourteen used as a kitchen, containing an 
earthen cooking range, and a table, with two or three 
boxes for seats. The front room had only a plain 
table, two chairs and a few boxes for seats, no bed, 
but a few bear and deer skins on the floor which 
answered for sleeping upon, a few blankets, and some 
small articles, with some wooden hooks on the walls 



394 Reminiscences of 

holding clothing, with two guns and a brace of revolveis. 
After a hearty meal of fried bacon, potatoes, bread, 
and tea we were seated on the boxes and chairs, 
while Brown was seated on a bear skin on the floor, 
opposite the fire. He and Slawson were reviewing 
their experiences in Montana, and the river-bank 
sluicing they had been engaged in. The open door 
was darkened by the entrance of Jack Williams, clad 
in an old blue army overcoat, who came in from the 
rain and seated himself on a vacant box near the 
fire. He had given no knock at the door, and un- 
bidden took his seat without saying a word. Brown 
and Slawson after a moment's silence continued 
their conversation about times in Montana. Other- 
wise the silence would have been more awkward. 
After a few moments Jack spoke up to Brown, telling 
him he wanted him to vacate the premises, as they 
belonged to him. Brown, quietly seated, responded 
that he hired the house of a Mexican, paying his rent 
of five dollars a month, and that he proposed to remain, 
and doubted very much if Jack owned the property. 
Jack then with much profanity accused Brown of 
taking away his friends (meaning ourselves) who 
came out to stop with him. This and some more, 
when Jack became so abusive that Brown, still seated, 
ordered him out. Upon this Jack rose in a threatening 
attitude, addressing Brown with a string of vile names. 
At this Brown rose from his seat, and seizing Jack 
by the back of the neck pitched him with much force 
out of the door into the rain. It was too dark outside 
to see where Jack fell, but he quickly recovered him- 
self, and pulling his pistol fired two shots at Brown, 
who still stood in the open doorway. Both shots 



A Sportsman 395 

missed, taking effect in the adobe wall close to the 
doorway, as we observed in the morning. 

Brown at these shots rapidly fell back and seizing 
one of the revolvers hanging by the fireplace, emptied 
the barrels of his pistol from the doorway in the 
supposed direction of Jack. All was then still, and 
Brown expressed his belief that he had surely plunked 
Jack ; but no search was made outside, nor was the door 
closed, and Brown shortly resumed his seat on the bear 
skin, and his conversation with Slawson about Montana 
matters, picking up the subject where they left off. 

I confess I did not feel at ease, and took pains to 
seat myself out of range from the door and the two 
windows, one being in front and the other on the side 
toward Jack's house. 

A few moments afterward the doorway was filled 
by another caller. It was a man named Graham 
(between whom and Jack existed a grudge), who 
hastily inquired the cause of the shooting he had 
heard. This Brown explained, relating the particulars. 
"Good God," said Graham, "then it was Williams 
who passed me as I was coming up here. Oh, if I 
had only known it was he, I could have shot him easily." 
Out he rushed, thinking he might overtake him. But 
we heard no further shots, and he evidently failed to 
overtake the valiant Jack, nor did Graham return. 

The morning opened clear and bright, and we 
mounted our horses and returned to Bernalillo. As 
we passed Jack's miserable adobe he came out to meet 
us. Just then came Graham along well mounted 
on a gray mustang. He held up, and finding where 
we were going said he would accompany us. I looked 
for trouble, as both were armed with a brace of pistols 



396 Reminiscences of 

usual with these cavahers. I looked for immediate 
trouble, as Jack sneeringly remarked to Graham, 
chagrined to find he was going along with us: "Well! 
You can take me in now if you want to," but the 
latter rode ahead without making any reply. 

I told Jack I would see Bebo, and we passed on, 
leaving him cursing as we departed. I told Bebo 
I could not do anything in the mine, without entering 
into any further explanation, and we rode on to 
the town of Algodones, further up the Rio Grande. 
From this town we rode on to a valley a few miles 
off the road in the hills to view the ruins of a former 
Pueblo settlement, now entirely deserted, and which had 
been for a long time. We were attracted to the place 
by the accounts we had received of the wood petrifi- 
cations there. We found a large number of petri- 
fied trees, evidently palms, remnants of ages before, 
when the palms evidently grew in profusion, while 
now only stunted pines existed. 

The evidence was conclusive that in some early 
period the climate of this region was semitropical, 
and that this condition existed not only here, but 
for hundreds of miles further north ; and at the pres- 
ent day broken fragments of palm-tree petrifications 
can be gathered below the foot-hill regions on the 
plains beyond the present city of Denver, in Colorado, 
at places quite plentiful. 

We found in the valley we visited, immense palm- 
tree petrifications, whole trunks of trees several feet 
in diameter, and scattered in profusion over a larger 
area, fragments of Indian pottery, showing that at 
one time the region must have been largely inhab- 
ited by a lost race, of which no history exists. Great 



A Sportsman 397 

climatic changes have occurred in this region and 
north beyond. 

At one time the Atlantic Ocean extended to the 
base of the Rocky Mountains, as clearly indicated by 
the immense deposits of sea-shells and petrified marine 
animals now found at the base of the mountains. 

The predecessors of the whales, black-fish, grampus, 
porpoises, and other warm-blooded animals of the 
sea, were here once in active life in prehistoric times, 
of which unmistakable evidence is found. At the 
time of the semitropical climate, when all the land from 
the present Atlantic Coast to the Rocky Mountains 
excepting a few hundred feet of Mount Washing- 
ton in New Hampshire was submerged, and prob- 
ably long before man had appeared in any form 
similar to that of the present, the saurian family 
existed in great variety, of which the ichthyosaurian 
remains found from California to Wyoming indicate 
the immense profusion of this class in variety. 

The remains of this immense animal, showing a 
frame as large as that of our modern whale, are com- 
paratively plentiful in Colorado and Wyoming, from 
which I have seen and secured petrified fragmentary 
specimens. These immense saurians were more or 
less amphibious, and may clearly be designated to 
have been the whales of the Triassic and Jurassic 
periods, showing in their anatomy the bones of the 
fingers, feet and arms, and joints as exhibited to-day 
in the flippers of the whale. These indicate an adapt- 
ability for land life, once experienced in the history 
of this largest animal of creation, representative of 
myriads of aquatic reptiles dwelling upon land. 

The recent discoveries in Italy, California, Nevada, 



398 Reminiscences of 

and Wyoming have resulted in the generahzing of 
diversified groups of aquatic mammals of earlier types 
in the mixosaurus and shastasaurus class of reptiles, 
distinctive links anterior to the life of the mammoth 
fossilized saurian remains found in Colorado, to 
be yet further detailed, from which the evolution 
of the whale and kindred genera is readily traced, 
as distinctively as that of the horse of the present 
day from its five-toed ancestral type of inferior 
size. 

Curiously interesting is the history of evolution, 
yet but partially explained, but sufficiently to in- 
dicate a great future advance, though probably never 
to be fully illustrated. 



ANOTHER excursion I made in 1880 from Santa Fe 
up to the Navajo Indian government reservation of 
3,000,000 acres, situated in the northwestern part of 
New Mexico, extending into Arizona. This tribe, 
formerly a numerous and powerful one, is in late 
years reduced to a few thousand. Comparatively 
peaceful by the restrictions of government, they, 
however, break out occasionally in moderate ravages 
from the restless character of the young braves, 
but are held in good restraint, and follow a half- 
civilized life, having horses, sheep, goats, and other 
domestic animals, and cultivate small tracts of land 
in com, beans, and other vegetables. 

On their native looms they manufacture a good 
many blankets of various colors, known as the Navajo, 
which have an extensive sale. Many of these are of fine 
texture, and often sell as high as $ 100 or more. They are 



A Sportsman 399 

warm and durable, and are often in gay colors from na- 
tive dyes, and are plentifully met with in New Mexico. 

These Indians are governed by their native chiefs 
by rude laws of their own, and some are quite industri- 
ous, though in this respect behind the Pueblo tribes, of 
which there are many, who are village dwellers and have 
always been peaceful with the whites, excepting in the 
general uprising which drove out and exterminated 
all the Spaniards, their cruel oppressors, in 1680. 

A marked degree of difference is also observed 
between the Navajos and many of the other Indian 
tribes upon reservations, located in the vicinity of white 
settlements, where the effect of example is distinctly 
evident in the respectable appearance of the Indians. 

The Navajos are still fierce-looking, and cling to 
their old costume of buckskin leggings and moccasins, 
enlivened by the gay-colored government blankets, 
which are much less durable and expensive than 
their own. Their fondness for ochre pigments is 
as strong as ever, and is shown on their faces gen- 
erally, and painting up is a feature of observance 
upon the eve of any visit from the reservation, or 
in fact any event out of the ordinary line. 

Could the history of this once warlike tribe be 
given, it would be one of great interest, and give much 
light upon the early history of the vast region once 
occupied as the scene of their plundering forays 
and murderous descents upon the peaceful Pueblos 
and Mexican settlers, when whole families and settle- 
ments were exterminated. With the many Apaches 
occupying the regions south, and with whom the 
Navajos were in perpetual conflict, but were mutual 
in plundering and murdering all they could reach 



400 Reminiscences of 

over a large area held in terrorism, it is likely that 
many dark pages of history could have been written 
of Indian savagery, now forgotten in oblivion, and 
only attested by the ruins of large community build- 
ings, the stone watch-towers upon heights, and the 
deserted habitations of the cliff-dwellers. 

After the declaration of peace with Mexico in 
1847 from which the United States acquired its im- 
mense western domain, the ravages of the Navajos 
and Apaches were frequent subjects of attention by 
Congress, and many detachments of troops were 
required before the Indians could be made to occupy 
the reservations determined for them. Despite all 
efforts of the government, it was many years after 
the Navajos were settled before the various tribes 
of Apaches were gathered in. 

In making the excursion to the Navajo country, I 
was accompanied from Santa Fe by my wife and 
my cousin, Mrs. Wood, also by Captain Slawson and 
his assistant, and one Meyers, who had induced the 
trip by representations of valuable copper mines 
near the Indian reservation, which he claimed to 
own. There are a great many kinds of people in 
the world, a description of whose varying peculi- 
arities would fill many volumes. 

I have described previously the character of Jack 
Williams, who lived upon the credulity of Bebo. 
There are many prototypes of Williams, varying 
more or less according to attending situations, from 
Williams up to the plausible villains who palm off 
bogus gold bricks and mines without value. 

There seems to be in mines a fascination to many, 
which creates a credulity and easy confidence not 



A Sportsman 401 

allowed in the consideration of other business sub- 
jects. The large advantages gained by some in 
mining, exceptional cases of success, stimulate the 
feeling for gain beyond the exercise of sound reason. 
Mining interests therefore attract a class of adventurers 
more plentiful than connected with other interests. 
Many of these adventurers are ready to take ad- 
vantage of the public in any manner and by any 
dishonesty they can bring to bear, while other ad- 
venturers, with a blind confidence arising from 
ill-regulated and inexperienced conditions, although 
sensible otherwise, wiir lead on men far superior to 
themselves in acuteness, and involve them in the fol- 
lowing of an "ignis fatuus'' phantom which leads to 
mire and loss. This class is perhaps more dangerous 
than the first. But the worst of all is the plausible 
rogue who has confidence in his ignorance. 

This Meyers represented an entirely different type 
than that of Williams, being a man of education 
and some scholarly attainments, and the author of 
some interesting articles regarding mechanical and 
mining appliances, which had appeared in a prom- 
inent mining journal. Despite this he proved to be 
a man of impracticable ideas, deficient in good sense, 
fantastic in action, and hyperbolic in illustrations; 
arrogant to those we met on our route, untruthful, 
and in fact a complete knave whose questionable 
actions afterward gave him several experiences within 
prison walls. He, however, stood well in the simple 
community where he resided, excepting with the 
store-keepers, and posed as an eminent authority 
in scientific affairs, and having a comfortable and 
scholarly appearance sustained at first pretty well 
26 



402 Reminiscences of 

the good recommendation given of him from one 
of the substantial townsmen with that ready wiUing- 
ness so common in the extreme West. 

Meyers claimed that he had acquired an immense 
tract of land known as the Nacimiento Grant in per- 
fect title from the Spanish and Mexican govern- 
ments, ratified in patent by the United States, which 
abounded in immense ledges of sandstone, impreg- 
nated by nodules and particles of pure copper, which 
would yield large profits if worked by modern methods. 
The presentation was attractive from a prima facie 
view, and to some extent as alluring as that which 
induced the adventurous Coronado in earlier days 
to traverse the same region in search for the golden 
cities of Cibola. The evidence in result was that 
the romancing Meyers had not a penny's interest 
in the grant, or any means for acquiring one, and 
the copper existing in the ledges was of such insignifi- 
cant proportions as to prove unprofitable even if 
worked over by the complete manner followed in 
the Lake Superior regions, where less than one per 
cent, of native copper gives large profits. But the re- 
gion was very extraordinary and interesting, where 
the geological features were unique in character. 
Once it had been the bed of an immense lake into 
which had flowed streams carrying trunks and 
branches of trees, principally palms. The water of the 
lake from some cause had been strongly impreg- 
nated with copper in solution, which saturated the 
logs more or less, and the wood became petrified 
completely, and the copper solidified in the wood 
in a metallic form in minute particles. Then a con- 
vulsion of nature occurred, a mighty upheaval of 



A Sportsman 403 

the bed of the lake, which with titanic force threw 
about the sandstone ledges in a confused manner. I 
saw some specimens which would be difficult to dupli- 
cate elsewhere, of strips of petrified palms carrying 
bright particles of native copper, and, more wonder- 
ful yet, small running veins in the wood of as bright, 
hard anthracite coal as could be found anywhere. 

Our outfit consisted of a two-seated carryall with 
a pair of spirited horses from a town stable, driven 
by the proprietor, a Mr. Strong, to carry my wife 
and cousin and self, with the driver; in addition a 
common covered Bain wagon with a pair of horses, 
to carry Captain Slawson and his assistant James, 
with a tent and supplies. Mr. Meyers was to ac- 
company us on horseback as we understood, and so 
started out from Santa Fe, but presently demurred 
when a few miles out, saying that he had expected we 
would have a place for him in the carriage, which 
we thought at the time was unusual for him to ex- 
pect, since he was supposed to have more invited 
us upon the trip, to view his property for sale, than 
we had invited him. But as he found so much fault 
from horseback riding, to which he claimed he was 
unaccustomed, we gave him a place in the wagon, 
having his horse led behind. Presently he found the 
wagon, without springs, too severe, and we took him 
in the carryall, as my wife volunteered to take his 
place in the wagon. As I thought it over, it seemed 
so unreasonable for an apparently strong man to 
take the place of a woman in the carriage, I inti- 
mated rather strongly that he should return to the 
wagon. This he was compelled to do, but instead of 
taking the wagon he mounted his horse and went on 



404 Reminiscences of 

ahead, as he said to arrange at the Mexican town 
of Pena Blanca, twenty-five miles further ahead, 
where we intended to pass the night, for our ac- 
commodations. That was the last we saw of him 
until the following morning. When we arrived there 
about dark we looked for him in vain, and put up 
in two or three of the ordinary adobe houses, there 
being no public house. 

In the morning he appeared on horseback as we 
were about starting away on our journey, account- 
ing for his non-appearance before by saying he had 
not been well, and had gone to the house of a Mex- 
ican friend for the night. We now commenced a 
journey over a waterless district of fifty miles after 
fording the Rio Grande, and it was necessary to take 
on a barrel of water to carry ourselves and our horses 
over, having a stock of hay and grain in the wagon 
with our other supplies. 

We passed over this desert in two days, reaching 
the Rio Pur CO, a muddy stream, but where the country 
was more fertile, with reaches of pine timber and 
pleasant stopping places. The habitations were few 
and far between, and we found the camping out 
preferable to abiding in any of the few adobes 
we met with. The scenery was attractive in many 
respects, though away from the streams and valleys 
the faces of the mountains were barren beyond any 
hope of ever making fertile. 

One prominent mountain height seemed ever con- 
spicuous, that of Cabazon, or the Cabbage Head, 
which was the guide for the direction we were to pursue. 
This we finally passed, following up the Rio Purco, 
and reached the mesa of the Nacimiento in six days 



A Sportsman 405 

after leaving Santa Fe. We were a great surprise 
and attraction at the few Mexican settlements we 
passed through, as no white woman had ever been 
seen there before, and the inhabitants, men and 
women, old and young, and the children would come 
about us as if we had been visitors from another planet. 
It amused us to tear out leaves from a few illustrated 
magazines we had and distribute them among the 
people, which were sought for with the greatest eager- 
ness, and the fortunate possessor of one of these pages 
became immediately the centre of a delighted group. 
We met on several occasions small bands of Navajos, 
looking more savage than peaceful Indians should. 
They were accompanying small bands of sheep which 
they were driving out for disposal at Mexican towns. 
Mounted and dressed in their buckskin garb, with 
gay blankets and hideously painted faces, with red 
bandana handkerchiefs bound about their heads, 
they looked ferocious enough to pursue the wanton 
pastimes of their ancestors. 

At a spring one day, where my cousin, Mrs. Wood, 
was temporarily lingering away from our party, she 
was much alarmed by the approach of a Navajo 
painted brave, who came on horseback at some 
speed, brandishing a quart bottle which he held 
by the neck in his hand. Espying her he stopped 
and addressed her in the mixed dialect of Spanish 
and Indian tongue, at which she was much alarmed, 
but relieved at the approach of Captain Slawson, 
who explained the object of the brave as being to have 
the loan of a drinking cup which Mrs. Wood had 
with her. 

Intoxicants are forbidden by law from being 



4o6 Reminiscences of 

furnished to Indians, but little attention is given in 
New Mexico to this, and the Navajos, though tem- 
perate in the main, have means of obtaining liquor 
when particularly desired, as indicated by several 
of their number whom we saw under its influence. 
Most Indians are gamblers, and the Navajos are 
particularly addicted to it, and skilful, and adepts 
at cheating. We saw the success of one of these 
warriors, at a Mexican village near Santa F6, when 
on oiu" return, where he obtained all the cash of 
a small sheep-owner and his flock also, of some- 
thing over a hundred head, which he was driving 
home to the reservation. 

We had some adventures in fording some of the 
small streams on our way. At one of these fords 
our carryall as well as our wagon stuck in the mud 
so effectually that we had to wait some hours for a 
pair of oxen to haul us out. We had an amusing 
incident with Meyers, the fourth day out, illustrat- 
ing one of the peculiar features of his disposition 
and make-up. It had rained in the night, somewhat 
to our inconvenience, and commenced again in the 
morning as we were about to start on. As our cuisine 
department was not equipped with a cook we had 
first depended upon Hussey, the driver of our wagon 
team, who had recommended himself to us favor- 
ably in connection with his expressed opinion that 
he was high up in the line, and intended to open a 
restaurant in Santa F6 upon his return. We found 
his work so wretched in this particular that I took 
this department in hand myself, and delegated him 
to the dish-washing line, but his results in this were 
so unsatisfactory that my wife and cousin were com- 



A Sportsman 407 

pelled to take it on. Meyers had the quahty of a 
great soldier and worker in the essential of a vigorous 
appetite, and exhibited a commendable promptness in 
appearance at meal times, and to use an expression 
of Hussey's "could bolt four days' rations at a single 
meal." His cultivated taste was evinced particularly 
in the selection of our delicacies, which were limited for 
the campaign. We had not called upon him for as- 
sistance in any particular, nor had he proffered any. 
As we were ending our breakfast it commenced to 
sprinkle, with an appearance of increase, and we 
made haste to finish up and take the shelter of our 
teams. As we were completing the dish-washing act, 
I asked Meyers if he would assist in packing away 
the washed tableware, and aid in stowing away the 
cases and baskets in the wagon which stood ready 
for departure. I could hardly believe my senses 
when he declined, and there was no time for dis- 
cussion at the moment. At midday, when we rested 
for the noon meal and he stood about in readiness 
for his usual onset, I asked if I could be sure that 
he had declined to aid in loading up our wagon, at 
the commencement of the rain that morning; to 
which he answered, "Quite so," and that before coming 
to America he had solemnly vowed never to engage 
in any menial labor. I had pretty well digested the 
matter before asking, and quietly informed him 
that his vow was a most unfortunate one, as it would 
effectually debar him from any participation in our 
meal now preparing, or in any other during our ex- 
cursion, as we were doing our own work, the cooking and 
the cleaning up, hand in hand in social union, each 
doing his share, and quite willing to do so in proper 



4o8 Reminiscences of 

appreciation, but I certainly could not allow his fur- 
ther participation in benefits derived from our mutual 
exertions, which his claimed superiority of station 
must from that moment debar him from. He re- 
ceived my decision in silence, and mounted his horse 
for a neighboring settlement. I thought he would 
then probably desert us, but he came into camp at night 
as usual, and afterward caught up his meals as he could 
outside of our supplies, and accompanied us to the Nar- 
cimiento, leaving us there, and we saw no more of him. 



TTAVING had over forty years of annual experiences 
^ -^ about the Rangeley Lake waters in winter and 
summer, and having passed several months in many of 
my visits, I have observed some features about trout 
and animals which may be of interest to fishermen, and 
which may throw some light upon the lives of those 
fish, which are so gamy, beautiful and delectable. 

I will simply give my experiences and opinions 
without any intention of entering into any contro- 
versy with other fishermen whose experience, percep- 
tiveness, and conclusions may be different from or 
superior to my own. 

In referring to the Rangeley Lakes I include that 
chain of larger lakes situated in Oxford County, Me., 
commencing with the Rangeley, the Mooseluckme- 
guntic, the two Richardsons, and the Umbagog, with 
the adjoining and connecting small lakes and ponds. 
The large lakes mentioned comprise a surface area of 
eighty square miles, and the principal tributary lakes 
and ponds, more than thirty in number, comprise an 
equal surface area, or a total of i6o square miles. 



A Sportsman 409 

The drainage area tributary to the system com- 
prises over 3000 square miles, which is almost en- 
tirely forest. The average precipitation of rain, which 
includes that from melting snow, is estimated at 42 
inches. The altitude above tide water varies from 
1200 feet to 1600 feet. 

The Rangeley waters are all well stocked with trout, 
excepting the Umbagog, the lower lake (partly in 
New Hampshire) , which a dozen years ago was found to 
contain pickerel, and these have been disastrous to the 
trout, and in consequence have thinned out the greater 
proportion of the small fish, although some quite large 
ones are now occasionally caught. I have heard of 
several being caught weighing from eight to nine 
pounds. In winters, until the railroad was com- 
pleted to Bemis lately, it was difficult to get at the 
principal lakes, excepting Rangeley Lake proper, which 
adjoins the small town of Rangeley, and there are no 
settlements or towns adjoining the big lake or the 
smaller lakes or the Richardsons, excepting the town 
of Andover, which is twelve miles from the head of the 
lower Richardson, and which is connected by a road 
so little used in the winter that I formerly had to get it 
broken out for my party, and have sometimes had to go 
to the expense of $40 or $50 to do so. 

In one instance, a number of years ago, five feet of 
snow fell while I was at the lake, and drifted so badly 
that I had to snow-shoe my way out with a com- 
panion over the mountains, twenty- two miles (we being 
up the lake twelve miles), which required our almost 
constant exertions for seventeen hours, leaving at 6 
A.M. and arriving out at Andover at 11 p.m. In one 
instance we were two days in getting over the road 



4IO Reminiscences of 

from Andover, twelve miles to the arm of the lake, 
although we had two stout teams, but had to shovel 
and tramp through heavy drifts of snow, and were 
compelled to camp over night on the road. Several 
other times I have been compelled to camp at the 
arm of the lake by having the ice break up after it had 
frozen, and in one instance I had to wait a week at the 
arm for the ice to form sufficiently strong to get over. 
In fact I have had quite a number of adventures 
in getting up to camp on the Upper Richardson Lake 
over the ice in the winter, and especially since the 
comparatively late law on deer shooting, which ends 
the season on December 15. 

To get the December shooting about the lakes is diffi- 
cult, as one must get up the lake by boats, or on the ice. 

From the middle of November the ice generally 
makes about the shores, making it difficult to get boats 
in or out, and very seldom does the ice hold after its 
first freezing over, although it may get an inch or two 
thick, and sometimes it breaks up when it is three 
inches thick from the sea made by a high wind on open 
places. The open places will grow larger, and some- 
times will break up the entire lake surface; at other 
times it will open in three or four or more parts, while 
the parts left closed will accumulate ice to the thickness 
of seven or eight inches, and at such times one must 
haul a boat over the frozen portions and row through 
the open ones. 

The lake generally freezes up from the loth to the 
15th of December, wholly, or sufficiently so to pass 
teams over. Parts of the lake in the vicinity of springs 
or currents will continue weak at all times in the 
winter, and it is not very uncommon to break in with 



A Sportsman 411 

horses, though they are generally hauled out safely, 
owing to the firm ice which adjoins the soft parts. The 
weak parts are pretty well known however, and avoided. 

While the cold in the winter, as indicated by the 
themiometer,would seem extreme, it is not particularly 
severe to those who come well prepared and have a 
comfortable camp, for the dryness of the atmosphere 
militates against the effect of the cold in a most favor- 
able manner. That chilliness and bone-penetrating 
cold which one experiences even in moderate weather 
on our eastern or western seaboard, is little felt at the 
lakes in the winter ; and, familiar as I am with many 
climes, I will say that I have suffered more from cold, 
which my memory vividly reminds me of, south of 
Washington and amid the orange-ripening localities 
of California, than I have in all my experiences in 
winter at the Rangeley Lakes. 

Yet during my excursion here in the winter of 1890 
and 1 89 1 the self -registering thermometer in front 
of camp indicated for thirteen consecutive mornings 
an average of 8 degrees below zero, the warmest, 
lowest marking being 26 degrees below, and the warm- 
est morning being 12 above. That was an extremely 
cold spell, as noted by the usually reliable oldest 
resident in the country, who had no remembrance of 
so cold a period in forty years. 

One of our family trips made in 1895, was particu- 
larly pleasant, and not far behind 1890 in cold; 
yet no day at the lake was too cold for the children 
of our party to be out snow-shoeing, skating, and 
tobogganing. 

Our trip was not made for shooting or fishing, as we 
arrived on the last day of the open shooting, December 



412 Reminiscences of 

31, and we were strict observers of the game laws. We 
came to enjoy the cold bracing weather, to enjoy the 
sports of winter, and to view the beautiful ice-bound 
lakes and the forest and mountains ; to witness the dark 
and purple hues of the fringing woods, and of the dis- 
tant ravines ; to observe the countless minor features 
incidental to the season at the lakes, of which a re- 
counting would be tiresome perhaps, but of constant 
note and attention to all lovers of the woods and waters. 
The woods and waters are always fascinating, be it 
winter or summer, the former equal to the latter — the 
woods in their dark green or with their coatings of 
white, the water delightful with its calm and changing 
surface, or clasped with mantles of ice or snow. This 
is the sanitarium for many invalids, while enervating 
warm climates are pernicious. Here will be found 
the enem^T^ of insomnia, here the stimulator of appetite 
and the true pepsin of digestion, here the conqueror of 
ennui and care. 

Our party of nine, four being children and two 
ladies, exclusive of guides and assistants, came in safely 
from Andover, Maine, on the last day of the year. 
We were held up two days at that town by the gen- 
eral blizzard, which coming from the west gave the 
New England coast a cold blocking storm. The weather 
during the two days at Andover was simply howling, the 
mercury holding obstinately below zero, and the air most 
of the time filled with cyclonic whirls of snow. But we 
were comfortable at French's Hotel. On the morning 
of the 31st it was still and clear, with the thermometer 
18 degrees below zero, and it held below zero all day, 
closing at sundown at 10 below and opening the 
following morning at camp 22 below. 



A Sportsman 4^3 

The trip of twenty-two miles through the woods and 
nine miles up the Richardson lakes was entirely com- 
fortable and free from touches of King Frost. It was 
slow going, however, from the necessity of breaking 
out the road and testing the ice, consuming four hours, 
including the stop of an hour and a half midway for 
lunch and warming up at the foot of the lake. 

During our stay of two weeks we had but few 
mornings when the lowest marking of the ther- 
mometer was above zero. On January 5 three of 
our party left to meet friends at Montreal. The 
marking of the thermometer was 14 degrees below 
zero at their time of leaving, ten o'clock, for Andover, 
and closing at night 8 degrees below, but the trip was 
made without any discomfort whatever. The night of 
January 4 was the coldest of any, there being a perfect 
gale of wind from the northwest all through the night, 
with the thermometer 18 degrees below zero, but the 
morning opened still and clear, and comfortable 
enough. 

A gale of wind with the thermometer nearly 20 
degrees below zero constitutes unmistakably a bliz- 
zard, which would be fatal to human life unless some- 
what protected from its fury. In our case, although 
the camp was openly exposed upon the lake shore to 
the full blast, we experienced no inconvenience. With 
double windows and large fireplaces in every room, 
filled to repletion with consuming birch and maple 
we were hardly conscious of the extreme cold outside, 
and passed the evening in witnessing the theatrical 
entertainment given by the children. To be sure, the 
cold gale was searching, and, despite the fires con- 
tinued through the night, it found out the water 



414 Reminiscences of 

pitchers in remote comers, and glazed them over with 
its imprint. 

The night was a comfortable one, for a slight freezing 
in one part of a room with a glowing fire in another part 
cannot be otherwise than comfortable in a dry air, to a 
well clad and well nourished mortal. Still the contrast 
was striking between the blizzard of the night and 
the still air of i8 degrees below in the morning. It 
seemed hardly necessary to wrap up for snow-shoeing. 

I would account a still clear cold of 60 or 70 degrees 
below zero to be far more comfortable than a gale 
of wind having a velocity of twenty miles an hour 
with the mercury at 15 or 20 degrees below zero. The 
first could be endured very comfortably in an ordi- 
narily well protected apartment before a glowing fire, 
but the latter has a searching power, which insinu- 
ates itself through the slightest crevices of the doors, 
windows, and floors, and of penetrating, when one is 
exposed to it, all the clothing one can put on. A mod- 
erate head wind at zero is far more biting than still 
cold at 30 degrees below. In fact no one but an Esqui- 
mau or the exceptional man can endure the facing 
of a gale at 20 degrees below zero, with any part of 
his face exposed, for more than a few minutes, for the 
white frosting will form on the skin almost imme- 
diately, and with double veiling the eyelids will soon 
glue together, and a glazing of ice will form over the 
mouth and nostrils. The face would freeze so quickly 
that one would hardly be aware of it, as it would be 
comparatively painless. 

I was snow-shoeing in the afternoon before the 
blizzard came on. 

The morning had opened 22 degrees above zero 



A Sportsman 4^5 

not very cold, but began to drop steadily after ten 
o'clock. I had crossed the lake with my son Vin- 
cent, to enjoy our lunch by a fire built upon the 
opposite shore, perhaps two miles from camp. I 
observed that the sun had a peculiar cold aspect 
and that the air was filled with countless particles 
of snow, which although as minute as diamond 
dust flashed and scintillated in the sunlight, a 
sure indication of intense frost. The tiny flashing 
crystals came from the moisture in the air, for the sky 
was cloudless, although tinted with an ominous hue 
which indicated some change from the quiet of the 
previous few days. I deemed it prudent to retrace 
our steps to camp, for the winter's short day was draw- 
ing to a close. When half way across the lake 
we observed from the upper end approaching eddies 
of whirling snow, and before we reached the camp they 
were about us, the sun had disappeared and the 
whole sky had become obscured from our sight by 
the driving flurries. The blizzard which lasted through 
the entire night had commenced. The wind fortu- 
nately was at our backs, and with well hooded faces we 
experienced no inconvenience. The air was so clouded 
with snow about us that no lake shores were visible ; 
and only from our old snow-shoe tracks, not entirely 
obliterated, could we find our way correctly. 

It was four o'clock, about sundown, when we reached 
camp. The thermometer indicated lo degrees below 
zero. Before six o'clock the mercury fell to i8 degrees 
below, where it remained all night, accompanied by 
howling bursts of wind which seemed bent on forcing 
in windows and doors. But the fury of the gale was 
lost upon us, and the morning opened quiet and serene, 



4i6 Reminiscences of 

and seemed moderate in its still coolness of i8 degrees 
below. 

A few days after this blizzard we learned that an 
unfortunate visitor at the big lake two miles above us 
(the Mooseluckmeguntic) had been caught out in it 
and very nearly lost his life. Alone and on foot he 
attempted the passage of eight miles from Haines 
Landing to the Upper Dam, and when overtaken by 
the whirling clouds of snow, which hid the shores, 
lost his bearings. 

He could not face the gale and drifted with it until 
he reached the shore, a long way from his course. Here, 
after passing into the forest a bit, and getting some 
shelter, he succeeded in building a fire, which saved 
his life. His ears, hands, and feet were half frozen. 
In the morning he found he was near the closed camps 
of Capt. Barker at Bemis Stream, four miles out of his 
course. He was unable to proceed further, still being 
eight miles from the Upper Dam. He broke open one 
of the camps, where he found plenty of firewood, but 
nothing to eat, and remained two days without food. 
He then made his way to the Upper Dam, eight miles 
distant, where he arrived, though he fell senseless on 
the ice when within half a mile, but was observed and 
brought in and finally fully recovered, though left in 
a very bad condition — as from freezing the flesh 
sloughed off from his hands and feet, and all his finger- 
and toe-nails — yet he still visits the lake. 

In 1900 I came to camp on Thanksgiving day from 
Bemis on the Great Lake, with my son Vincent 
and a friend. 

It was eight miles from Bemis across the lake to the 
Upper Dam on our route, and two miles from there to 



A Sportsman 4^7 

camp. The temperature was at zero, and the big 
lake was almost entirely frozen over with a thin ice. 
We had a fine time, with a stiff gale blowing in the 
direction we were going, with two boats breaking our 
way through it, doing so for nearly all the distance with 
heavy tree boughs from the boats, but found the ice, 
when within a mile of the dam too strong to break. 
At this we landed on the shore, and finished the last 
distance through three feet of unbroken snow, which 
was slow work. The lower lake was comparatively free 
from ice, which we finished with boat, arriving at camp 
soon after dark. Two weeks after our arrival we had a 
severe blizzard, the 9th of December. On that morning 
the thermometer stood at 24 degrees above. I noted 
then that the barometer had fallen very low — ^lower 
than I have seen it for some years, excepting that year, 
September 13th, when the remnant of the Texas hurri- 
cane which destroyed Galveston reached the lake, 
lashing the water into great fury. Then the ther- 
mometer sank rapidly in a severe gale from the north- 
west, with flying clouds of snow, and by six o'clock in 
the evening was down to 10 degrees below zero, and 
finally reached 17 degrees below, when the gale 
from the northwest increased with great force, and 
continued throughout the whole night. On the morn- 
ing of the loth the thermometer exhibited 13 degrees 
below zero, with the gale moderated but still strong. 
By ten o'clock the thermometer was up to 9 degrees 
below, but remained below zero all day, but we put 
in half an hour skating on the new glare ice, which was 
quite sufficient for us. We secured three deer upon 
this excursion. 

The trout of the Rangeley waters, designated as 



4i8 Reminiscences of 

the Salvelinus fontinalis, are the true speckled, car- 
mine-spotted, and of the highest type in game quahties 
and flavor of any which inhabit any waters, excepting 
those of a kindred character, and it is very difficult to 
find any other waters of equally favorable characteris- 
tics. I say without prejudice, having taken trout from 
some forty different localities in the State of Maine and 
in many other States in the Union, as well as in foreign 
countries, that the Rangeley Lakes trout altogether are 
of finer form, color, and flavor than those of any other 
waters I know of, while for average size they surpass 
any of their class. Take them at any month of the 
year, they are fat and deliciously flavored. There 
will not be one in a hundred which from age or disease 
is out of condition for food, although I will except 
the spendthrift milter, in the late autumn ; for, though 
arrayed in his most brilliant intensified suit of scarlet 
waistcoat with dark trimmings, mottled coat, spangled 
sides, and white and black leggings, he has a sin- 
uousness and a lacking of flavor which should give 
him liberty and an opportunity for recuperation. I 
will not, however, except the full spawner, which, 
owing to high feed, remains in good condition, deteri- 
orating somewhat at the termination of the spawning 
period, from which, however, a speedy recovery is 
made. 

The opinion that pure water of crystal clearness is 
essential to the perfect existence of trout is not sus- 
tained by the condition at the Rangeley waters. Owing 
to the densely wooded country about, and the ex- 
cessive precipitations of moisture, and the constant 
forest leaching which occurs, all the waters with a 
very few limited exceptions are somewhat opaque, 



A Sportsman 419 

having a yellowish tinge, which indicates the im- 
pregnating effect of the abundant adjoining plant 
life. This vegetable stain has its sequence in the 
furnishing of the first source of trout existence by 
the apparent spontaneous prodigality of infusorial 
life. This is clearly evident without microscopic aid, 
and throughout the waters, in a greater or less degree, 
is plainly evident to the unassisted eye. This is the 
primary constituent essential to young fish life. The 
young trout or salmon, when relieved of the umbilical 
sac, is of minute proportion, and is unable to live upon 
the surface ephemera or food of after life, and subsists 
wholly upon the infusoria, as do all the small fry gen- 
erally designated as minnows, of which there are a 
dozen varieties in the Rangeley waters. It is also the 
principal food of the fresh- water smelts. The profusion 
of small fish in the lakes supplying the principal food of 
the trout and salmon accounts for their number and 
superiority, without which they would be lacking, so 
that in reality the primitive cause is the infusorial 
element. This element abounds in all ponds, lakes, 
rivers, and even ditches where decaying vegetable and 
animal matter exists, and in countless profusion. It is 
found in thermal springs, and rivulets flowing from 
snow-banks and glaciers, and in salt as well as fresh 
water. No form of life can be more universal and ex- 
tensive, while of so minute a character in the sea, and 
in many fresh waters, as to require the strongest magni- 
fying power to clearly observe. Even distilled water, 
upon exposure to the air, will exhibit the life. Freezing 
does not destroy it, nor will a deprivation of its watery 
element. It may be dried in the sun for many days, 
but its germ form when drifted with the dust to reviving 



420 Reminiscences of 

waters will again take on active life. Ehrenberg, a 
celebrated German authority upon the subject, esti- 
mates the reproductive capacity of a single one to ex- 
ceed 200,000,000 in the space of a month. The variety 
of the infusoria is extensive, more than a hundred 
being classified. 

The Poligastrica and Rotatoria, two prominent 
species of the infusoria, are white, pulpy substances, 
some of which are of pinhead size. Through the 
winter ice over a clear sandy bottom, with a thin 
blanket head cover, which by no means excludes the 
light, one obtains abundant opportunity to observe 
that the white specks, at first mistaken for pollen 
or other foreign intrusion, have a motion equal 
to several inches in a short time, and can be ob- 
served in the still water moving in various directions, 
some apparently with a revolving motion, and others 
without visible action. Many have advanced the spon- 
taneity or protoplasm theory concerning the pro- 
tozoa, which is a subject of much discussion, and 
lately a prominent German savant has advanced the 
theory that this element is the primitive origin of all 
life — ^vegetable and animal — ^which now exists upon 
the earth. A somewhat startling theory, but that life 
must necessarily have started upon this once molten 
mass in a very primitive form is clearly evident; but 
how, may or may not be solved. 

Trout are not migratory in their habits, although in 
exceptional instances when disappointed in love affairs 
and driven away by successful rivals, or from a natural 
excess of love adventure or physical disturbances, will 
roam about, and oftentimes in such cases will take 
extended departures; otherwise they will frequent the 



A Sportsman 421 

same feeding grounds, although taking their spring 
and autumnal outings. We all know of the particular 
fellows which are found year after year in the same 
deep pools and by the steep rocks, which so long bid 
defiance to human art, but which finally yield up their 
liberties and lives to their unconquerable taste for 
the insidious fly. 

For years after years I have seen trout, so marked 
by their size or peculiarities as to be unmistakable, 
come annually to the same spots and defy all fair efforts 
against their privileges. In vain are the most dainty 
flies of all colors and sizes flaunted in the air, and ripple- 
kissed, on surface and beneath, live bait, fat worms, and 
other delectable morsels. And these large fellows 
do not, any more than their lusty prototypes, when 
they have once taken possession of a first class 
domicile, allow of the invasion by other trout 
of their habitation, unless ousted by superior prow- 
ess. This occurs often in the season of amatory 
dalliance, when two are considered sufficient com- 
pany, and when eternal vigilance is found to be an 
essential of satisfactory housekeeping, and where 
robbers and tramps have to be continually chased 
and banged at. 

Nothing can be more comical and amusing than to 
witness the watchfulness and incessant unrest of a 
worthy burgher of mature years, who has taken unto 
himself a helpmate to regulate the domestic routine 
of his establishment, and to whom he has promised 
immunity from outside prowlers and sneak thieves: 
good-natured fellow, who has grown corpulent and 
high-colored from numberless golden chubs, striped 
minnows, J^^and viscous suckers, which his vigorous 



422 Reminiscences of 

activity has secured. Now will he forth for a season 
in a more highly oxygenized element; he will hie for 
the rushing waters, and promenade among the belles 
of the high world. So dressing himself in his gayest 
colors of red, white and orange, with many delicate 
tinted shades and sheens, and touching up his car- 
mine spots, he sallies forth on a rollicking tour, which 
leads to speedy subjugation. No lover can be more 
complacent and attentive than he, none more willing 
to shoulder the matrimonial noose, or more fiercely 
jealous of the intrusion of others. It is amusing when 
mated to witness his torturing anxiety at the approach 
of other trout, and his inhospitable reception of them, 
which is indicated by his advance toward them with 
open mouth. The small trout and chubs cause him 
no end of trouble, and he has no rest night or day. No 
sooner does his mate indicate her intention of de- 
positing an egg, by her movements before the deposit, 
than several active chubs and small trout appear on 
each side eager for the delicate morsel, and while those 
on one side are dispersed, another daring rogue from 
the other side rushes in and secures the prize ; and thus 
it goes on in particular instances throughout the 
spawning season, and it may be doubted if a single egg 
escapes to a hatching on some spawning beds. This 
destruction of eggs by trout themselves is a very serious 
evil, and is shared in by chubs and suckers, and the 
attending male is often charged with a taste in that 
direction, and often when caught about the spawn- 
ing bed is found with spawn in its stomach. I 
incline to doubt, however, if the full-charged and dis- 
pensing milter is guilty of this action, and probably 
not in the last stages of amatory play, as he is then 



A Sportsman 423 

very thin and flat,with most intensified colors, and when 
so caught has almost invariably an empty stomach. 

I have observed the spawning trout on the beds 
a great many times, about the shores of the lakes 
and ponds, in the late autumn on clear, still 
days, and in November and December through the 
ice. The latter observation is the most satisfac- 
tory, and is obtained by cutting a hole a foot or 
two square through over the spawning beds, which 
may be but two or three feet below the surface. By 
placing a blanket or two on the ice for reclining upon, 
and by placing another over the head, shutting out 
the immediate light, the trout can be observed in 
full play. The disturbance occasioned by cutting and 
clearing out the hole is over in a few minutes, and the 
trout below soon become entirely fearless. On some 
beds the spawners seem to be without particular mates, 
having a half-dozen or more cavaliers in attendance, 
whose amatory distractions donot seem to interfere with 
their appetites, and who indiscriminately make a grand 
rush for the eggs as soon as deposited, and it may be that 
there are several spawning heaps or beds immediately 
adjoining and half a dozen spawners at work, attended 
by a dozen or more males, who apparently secure every 
egg for digestion. I have sometimes seen fifty and even a 
hundred trout thus congregated in an area not over 10 ft- 
square, and in such close proximity that there was hard- 
ly any intervening space between them. The spawning 
beds are generally composed of a slightly raised mound of 
gravel two or three feet in diameter ; sometimes the beds 
are on the clean sands, without any coarse gravel what- 
ever; sometimes among pebbles and a bottom grass. 

The spawning beds often receive a hard scouring for 



424 Reminiscences of 

eggs after the spawning season is over. It is not un- 
common in the late autumn before the ice makes over 
the deserted beds, near the shore, to find half a dozen 
speckled chaps digging over the bed for some egg 
which may have escaped observation. It is not 
uncommon to see them digging into the beds from a 
horizontal position with their heads down and their 
tails flapping above the water surface, which occasions 
the first observation. Last of all comes the Chinaman 
of the lake, the sucker, who works patiently at lower 
wages than the dominant race, who with his porcine 
snout makes havoc with the bed, and fairly roots it 
apart for the last lingering morsel which remains. 

Probably nine-tenths of the Rangeley trout spawn 
in still water, where a moderate freshening occurs from 
springs. The same quarters will be occupied year after 
year, unless physical changes occur. 

Nearly all the trout spawn between the middle of 
September and the middle of December, although excep- 
tional cases occur throughout the year, and there is no 
time during the year but what trout can be found in 
spawn in a form of more or less development. I have 
observed them through the ice spawning well into Janu- 
ary, and not very long ago I caught a 7 -pounder in the 
first part of August which was full of ripe spawn, and 
dripping. This fish was caught at a depth of about 30 ft. 
on a slow troll, with a heavy sinker, with a No. 2 fly. I 
know of a good many spawning beds about the lake 
and ponds where after the ice first freezes over I have 
taken much interest in regarding the trout below. 
One of these, situated opposite a landing at one of my 
adjunctive camps on a pond, I had an amusing incident 
when accompanied by an enthusiastic friend and sports- 



A Sportsman 425 

man, Col. H. C. Nutt, one season after the ice had 
freshly made. We had skated up the lake five miles 
to take our lunch there. The Colonel regretted the 
passing of the fly-fishing season, of which he was an 
ardent votary. I said, "Well, you shall have some if 
you want." He said that that was not possible, as the 
waters were frozen over. I rejoined, "Nevertheless, 
you shall have some. ' ' He was incredulous, and offered 
to wager that he could not. "Very well," said I, 
* * but I don't want to win your money on a sure thing ; 
but I will wager you a big cigar or a box of cabman's 
thirds that I will take a trout with a fly right here from 
the platform in front, and put him in your hands within 
five minutes from the time I commence fishing." 
This offer was taken. I then had my man go in front 
with an axe and break up the ice, which was between 
2 and 3 inches thick, over a space of 10 by 15 
feet. Then we put in a boat from an adjoining 
cover and rocked it in a violent manner, driving 
the ice out of the broken place, some over the ice and 
some under. We then went in for lunch half an hour, 
and after I reached down a fly-rod, equipped, from 
over the door and cast, the Colonel standing 
with his watch in hand. On the first cast my trout 
struck, and in three minutes from the start I placed 
a third-of-a-pound trout in the Colonel's hands. I let 
the Colonel go on then, and he caught with his plain 
fly from twenty-five to thirty trout in a short time. 
The water where we fished was not over 3 or 4 feet deep. 
The trout were of moderate size, the largest not being 
over half a pound. The spot I had long known as a 
favorite spawning ground for small trout, and perhaps 
over a hundred were left there. 



426 Reminiscences of 

I think the trout in the Rangeley Lakes, excepting 
the Umbagog, are about as plentiful as ever, although 
the raising of the waters has changed their spring and 
autumnal habitats a good deal, and some of the old 
fishing places are of the past. Trout Cove in the large 
lake above the Upper Dam was a spring fishing place 
for a period of ten or fifteen days, where in the gentle 
current one could satisfy his most ardent passion for 
trout, and become fairly surfeited; that is, if one could 
ever become completely surfeited with fly-fishing. 

Not far from Trout Cove was the run below the old, 
now submerged, stone dam, which for large trout in 
the autumn surpassed any spot I ever knew of. I used 
to have the fishing there alone and unrestricted to my 
heart's exorbitant content, over twenty years ago, 
when there was scarcely another rod going. Day 
after day I fished it in the height of the season, wending 
my way to it a mile through the woods by lantern 
light to get the first fishing of the blushing mom; and 
after resting through the day I would take in the even- 
ing fishing, and wend my way home an hour after dark 
by the same light which had guided my morning foot- 
steps. Sometimes I would get hold of a big fellow 
after dark, which would so tire my patience that I 
would feel like straining my leader to separation. 

The water there ran dark and smooth in a passage of 
30 or 40 ft. wide between large rocks into a pool of 
several acres in area below. In the passage and below 
were the leviathans of the deep. Now of late years, 
the lake, raised 12 or 1 5 ft. higher, has destroyed the 
current, and made a sea of the locality. 

Some days one might whip the run and pool for hours 
without a rise, although gigantic breaks about might 



A Sportsman 427 

occasionally be observed, but the favorable hour in 
the right season was sure to reward the seeker. Once 
I caught the pool on a day of high carnival, a day of 
exultant joy, of moving and commotion among trout, 
which on some days and occasions exhibit an eager 
recklessness, and are fearless and bent on destruction. 
It was a cold, blustering, gusty day, with occasional 
sleet, late in September, when I had to go back fre- 
quently to a fire on the shore to thaw out my benumbed 
hands. At intervals the water boiled about me with 
swirling breaks, and visible currents of pursuing fish. 
My first cast, a short one, scarcely 10 ft. away, responded 
with a 5 -pounder in an instant, and I begrudged the 
time it required to bring him to net. Another and 
another rose in succession to my fly, which scarcely 
flecked the merry ripple tops ere it was taken. No 
under of fly surface draw seemed required for my first 
few fish, and I screamed with delight at each strike. My 
third was an 8 1 -pounder and the largest of the day, 
and the smallest was 3 lbs., and my total catch ten 
fish, which weighed 57 lbs. 

I secured all alive in two large cars I had at the run, 
excepting the largest, which was gilled, and on the 
following day weighed the balance and gave back to the 
pool all but three, which answered any use I could 
have. 

The largest trout I have seen after being caught 
weighed almost exactly 1 1 tbs. , although there are well- 
authenticated instances of trout which have been caught 
weighing 12 and 15 tbs., and 10 -pounders have been 
taken in several instances. The largest I have ever taken 
weighed 9I tbs. and the second largest 9 lbs., and I 
have taken a good many from 7 to a little over 8 tbs. 



428 Reminiscences of 

I once secured a 9 1 -pounder from the apron below the 
Upper Dam some fifteen years ago, which came over 
the fall of the dam above and was left dry on the apron 
logs. The logs of the apron were separated somewhat, 
allowing the water to pass through as it flowed over 
the dam. I was some distance off, and saw the 
commotion on the apron, which I first thought was my 
Skye terrier at play, as he frequented the spot; but 
succeeded in arriving at the apron and in securing the 
fish as he had almost reached the end of the apron and 
was about to drop into the water below. I have seen eels 
of 10 and 12 lbs. weight caught securely between the 
logs of that old apron, which came over the dam at 
night, large, lusty, black-backed and yellow-bellied fel- 
lows, which had doubtless done their share in ravag- 
ing the lakes. 

I remember well this large trout, the 11 -pounder, 
which for several years in the autumn came to the 
same place in a moderate swirl of water above a 
dam, where in his mighty solitude — ^for he seemed 
quite alone — he would signify his presence occasionally 
by an uplifting at the surface which would make an 
angler's heart quake. He became the target of many 
ambitious efforts, both of fly-casters and bait-dabblers, 
but maintained a dignified and conservative indiffer- 
ence. In a quiet surface and with the sun's rays in a 
favorable quarter he was often observed either in 
quiet meditation or slowly taking his constitutional 
promenade. In vain were flies sunk for his con- 
venience, and equally vain were the tidy worms 
and natty grasshoppers trailed before his majestic 
presence. Some vowed he was 3 ft. long, that his 
mouth was large enough to take in a black duck, and 



A Sportsman 429 

that he must weigh 1 5 tbs. Well, he was taken one day 
by an old guide, who would have scorned to have taken 
him any other way than fairly, but most curiously 
he was taken while everybody was at dinner, and ac- 
cording to the guide's account he had allowed his worm- 
baited hook to rest on the bottom for a while, from which 
it was seized by the old patriarch, and in natural 
sequence completed his foraging adventures and he 
soon lay gasping on the green grass. He did not 
prove to be 15 lbs. in weight, or 3 ft. long; in fact, was 
a very short trout for his weight, measuring exactly 
27I in. in length, and of magnificent color. His photo- 
graph, life-size, is before me. 

A remarkable and well-authenticated catch was 
made by my friend the Hon. H. O. Stanley, of Dixfield 
Me., some years ago, in the large lake, of five trout in 
one day, and all with a fly, which weighed 42 tbs., the 
largest weighing 10 tbs. and the smallest 7 tbs. It is 
doubtful if this catch with a fly has ever been exceeded 
by any fisherman at the Rangeley Lakes in a single day. 

We find in men the characteristics peculiar to cli- 
mate, soil, and food. So with trout, excepting that they 
show much more prominently than with the human race 
the disparities occasioned by their surroundings. Once 
when fishing through the ice for several days with a 
friend at a certain place on the lake where we had re- 
markably good luck in getting short, thick trout, and 
which place, by the way, produces the heaviest trout in 
the lake for length, and after pulling out a fat 4 -pounder 
which hardly measured 16 in. in length, I remarked to 
my friend that he would probably be surprised to catch a 
i| tb. trout which would exceed the 4 -pounder in length. 
In demonstration of this we set a dozen lines in 30 ft. 



430 Reminiscences of 

of water, by an island where above all the places in the 
lake I had observed the trout to be very long and slim, 
and where the color indicated most positively that the 
bottom was not only very muddy, but extremely dark. 
Here we caught fifteen or twenty trout, which were in- 
variably slim and eel-like and black-bellied. Among 
them were several running from i to i^ lbs., which were 
not less than from 1 5 to 17 inches in length. In that 
locality it is unusual to catch any trout of great weight, 
although I once caught one there of the most unusual 
weight, long, slim and dark, which was the longest trout 
I ever saw, measuring 30 inches in length and weigh- 
ing 7 lbs. He was an old one and evidently dying of 
old age and lack of food, which his waning activity 
failed him in gaining. A short time ago a lady, a 
friend of mine, caught a plump 8-pounder, which 
measured exactly 23I inches in length, which was caught 
in comparatively shallow water in a quarter where I 
have taken thousands of trout, but where I have never 
known a slim black-bellied trout to be taken, not 
even a stray, though often strays are picked up. I 
have often taken trout which I knew had arrived 
where caught, within twenty-four hours, from a dis- 
tance at least of two or more miles, having the markings 
in color too strong to be ignored, and which had not 
been long enough at the new place to get fitted out in 
the prevailing garb. 

Inexperienced fishermen may think this somewhat 
improbable, but men with whom I have almost yearly 
fished for the past thirty years will recognize the feat- 
ures I have illustrated. We often remarked to each 
other, "That is a cedar tree trout," or a so and so trout, 
and probably correctly. Why trout will remain about 



A Sportsman 43 1 

one place for life is difficult to explain; but they do. 
And so we may say about men. Why will they stay 
in one place and eke out an uncertain and precarious 
existence, when they can go where they could do 
so much better? I often think of this while I am 
travelling about the world and witness the prosperity 
of some localities and the misery of others, and find 
humanity pleased and satisfied in each place. No 
matter where I go it is mostly the same with the inhab- 
itants, lauding the respective merits of their region and 
claiming advantages not possessed by others; and so 
they stay and die, and their children grow up after 
them and follow in the footsteps of their parents. And 
so it is, I presume, with the trout. If they could talk 
and express themselves and be understood, it would 
probably be found that they had very good reasons of 
their own for continuing where they could not be other- 
wise than slim and black, when they might go where 
they would soon get fat and mellow with unctuous deli- 
cacies. Occasionally a trout strikes out, as with human- 
ity, and never returns, linking his fortune with another 
colony, and unknown evermore among his old friends 
and relatives. 

Trout are well protected and plentiful, and no sea- 
son has been better than those of late years, and if the 
fishermen who display their skill at the Upper Dam 
during the season could see the large trout on the 
spawning beds in October and November they would 
hardly expect any diminution of the noble fish in the 
immediate present. The water below the Upper Dam 
when drawn down after October i, and the shallows 
below, are covered with large trout of 4, 5, 6, and 8 lbs., 
that make great commotion and exhibit their immense 



432 Reminiscences of 

backs and tails with prodigal profusion. Ornamented 
in their highest colors, they present a most fascinating 
sight; now swimming along in pairs at a slow pace, 
then whirling in great eddies, then ploughing across 
reaches with speed and streaming wakes. 

With cautious steps they can be approached to 
within lo or 15 ft. and most closely observed, and if 
disturbed and driven away to deep water will speedily 
return. 

I have never in many seasons seen the beds below 
the Upper Dam more fully occupied by large trout than 
in late years. Many believe the trout to be less plenti- 
ful than before, and prophesy that in a few years trout- 
fishing at the lakes will be a feature of the past, but I 
do not agree with either opinion, and my annual ex- 
periences extend over forty seasons. 

Although many trout come in at known fishing places 
they bear but a small proportion to those in the lakes. 
They are well distributed, and the favored fishing local- 
ities but few. Probably nine tenths of the trout have 
their spawning beds in retired places, in comparatively 
still water and entirely unknown to the average visitor. 

I think next to man the blue heron {Ardea herodias) 
is the greatest destroyer of trout at these lakes. This 
bird is an incessant nocturnal as well as daily feeder, and 
of inordinate appetite, and although its principal food 
is chubs and frogs it destroys a great many trout and 
will get away with J-pounders, if not larger. They will 
have no hesitancy in striking and fatally wounding 
trout of over ilb. in weight. Yearly I see trout swim- 
ming about which have been struck and pierced by this 
bird ; lately I caught two which were unfit for food, each 
over I lb. in weight, having holes in the back nearly 



A Sportsman 433 

through them as large as pipe stems. It may be a 
question if this bird, of which hundreds frequent the 
shores of the lakes from the early spring to the ice, do 
not in the aggregate kill more trout, principally small 
ones up to | lb., than all the fishermen. Aided by the 
loons, kingfishers, and mink, they undoubtedly do. 
The mink is a voracious feeder, and will destroy large 
numbers with the greatest ease from congregating 
pools and the breeding streams which feed the lakes. 

A mink will kill a dozen trout in a day when they 
are easily accessible, eating only the heads and leaving 
the bodies to decay. If one can get into a fisherman's 
car it will strip it clean of trout in a single night, even 
if there are several dozen, and carry every one off. 

I had a car, which was accidentally left open, 
stripped one night of a dozen trout weighing from i to 
2 lbs. It was a very large car, having but a small opening 
in the top, of about 8 in. square, and was but half sub- 
merged, leaving fully i ft. of raise from the water to the 
exit aperture. I could hardly see how so small an 
animal as a mink could haul out trout weighing more 
than itself ; but a few days after, when I had replenished 
the car with ten or twelve more trout, one or two of 
which pulled above 2 lbs. and one nearly 3 lbs., I saw 
how it was done. I was sitting upon the shore when 
I observed a commotion in the car scarcely 40 ft. from 
me. It was covered, but the trout were splashing about 
at a great rate; and presently I saw a mink appear 
on one side of the box, swimming about and beneath 
it, endeavoring to find entrance. I watched him 
for some minutes with great interest and amazement. 
He would swim around the box several times, then be- 
neath, then crawl up the sides and inspect the top, then 



434 Reminiscences of 

dive down beneath again and appear upon the other 
side, then hesitate on top apparently for reflection, and 
then in the most active manner commence his journey- 
around and about the box again. He paid no attention 
to me whatever, as I remained perfectly quiet. He fi- 
nally dived into the water and disappeared. Interested 
to know how he would act in taking the trout, I took ad- 
vantage of his absence to go to the box and remove the 
cover, and returned to my previous sitting place. In a 
few moments I saw him appear at the box again; he 
swam about several times before mounting. On top 
he immediately discovered the opening, down which he 
disappeared. At first I thought I would run up and 
replace the cover, but then it occurred to me that I 
should perhaps catch a tartar ; and besides I wished to 
see how the work was done, as I had been the victim of 
several losses of this character. The splashing in the 
car indicated his entrance, and in half a minute he 
appeared at the top dragging out a struggling i-tb. 
trout. But the struggles were comparatively faint, 
as the mink had evidently given the fish a distinctive 
quietus. Down into the water he slid and disappeared. 
I saw him soon appear along the shore above, when 
I lost sight of him. In less than three minutes he ap- 
peared again at the box and repeated his first act with 
a second trout, which he disappeared with as before, and 
returned after about the same lapse of time. The 
third act was more prolonged, as he attacked the 
largest trout in the car, heavier than himself, but finally 
dragged it out and carried it off. I concluded it time 
to put the cover on the box and end the play, well 
satisfied that otherwise all the trout would soon 
disappear. 



A Sportsman 435 

The trout of the Rangeley Lakes probably average 
larger than from any other waters. I should estimate 
the average weight of those caught in the lakes at a 
pound. I have not kept any particular record of my 
catches of late years, but did until some twenty years 
ago, when I had a record of over 6000 trout, which aver- 
aged over a pound, but my catches then included 
those of winter fishing through the ice, when the lakes 
were but little visited, and before it was any infraction 
of the law to so fish. I was very fond of those excur- 
sions of two or three weeks at the lakes, with trout for 
the object, and the auxiliaries of the robust open-air 
life, the shooting, skating, and other sports. 

With a few companions, we would have no difficulty 
in securing an average of fifty pounds of trout a day, 
which, well frozen up, were carried out for distribution 
among our friends. These winter trout would average 
a full pound and a third, seldom taking under half a 
pound, and up to an occasional seven- or eight -pounder. 

I have given considerable attention to the freezing of 
fish, especially trout, during the winters when I have 
been at the Rangeleys, during former years, when the 
season was open for winter fishing through the ice. 
Insensible to cold as the Rangeley fish seem to be, 
they will invariably die in a short time when confined in 
a car and pushed down under and next to the ice, while 
they will live a long time in a weighted car if sunk to the 
bottom. The sluggishness of the trout is clearly ap- 
parent in the last part of the winter, and I have often 
caught them in this advanced condition, when I have 
wondered at their ability to take the bait. I am of the 
opinion that many of them go into the mud along-side 
the other fish. 



436 Reminiscences of 

In December and January there is a notable scarcity 
of live bait, and in February and March they are very 
difficult to find, although I have sought for them in doz- 
ens of places, both in deep water and shallow, and those 
places where I have taken any in the late months were 
in the vicinity of springs, and hardly any to be obtained, 
excepting in the early hours of the morning and those 
preceding sundown. I have frequently had to go 
out fifteen or twenty miles in the adjoining country 
and fetch them from spring holes. Yet the trout 
caught are seldom empty of small fry or chubs, and it 
is quite likely that the trout root them out to a con- 
siderable extent from the mud; and that trout do root 
in the mud a good deal is indicated by the earth and 
often lumps of clay found in their stomachs. I have 
caught large trout often with a small handful of clay 
balls in their stomachs, which have remained after 
the probable exudation of loose earthy matter. The 
parasites attached to trout fins, so noticeable in the 
winter and early spring, and which soon disappear 
in open water, indicate their earth-frequenting. While 
in December and early January the trout are compara- 
tively plentiful in a few feet of water below the ice, they 
are mostly off in from 1 5 to 40 feet of water afterward, 
but I have seldom found them below 50 feet. In winter 
they are mostly at the bottom or within i or 2 feet of it. 
In this season the contents of their stomachs are quite 
miscellaneous — glutinous ground feed, chubs, varieties 
of small fry, rarely blue-backs, and suckers. 

The results in freezing I have so far obtained are as 
follows, relating especially to trout: 

That trout may be frozen solid without destroying 
life. 



A Sportsman 437 

That they may be fully resuscitated after several 
days' freezing. 

That they must be frozen quickly and at a temper- 
ature equal to 10 to 15 degrees below zero. 

That while frozen they must be completely pro- 
tected from the sun. 

That while frozen they must not be submitted to a 
temperature below zero, but in one sufficient to pre- 
vent any thaw. 

That in resuscitating in water an abundant supply 
must be given. 

That the water must be at a temperature of from 
32 to 35 degrees. 

That the temperature of the apartment must be 
kept at about the same level. 

That the thawing must be so regulated that from 25 
to 30 hours must be given before the fish is restored. 

Upon being numbed and frozen quickly before life 
is seriously affected by exposure out of water, and kept 
and thawed as mentioned, they will resume their natu- 
ral and normal condition, and when returned to the 
lake will swim off at a lively rate. The commoner 
kinds of fish may be frozen and restored with much less 
care. 

The bull-heads or horn-pouts, which have a great 
tenacity of life, may in cold weather be frozen up and 
thawed out to life very readily. I remember an in- 
stance of some being caught in another locality from 
the lakes, where they were left carelessly on a boat- 
house floor, and speedily froze up together, which in a 
week afterward were, all but one or two, fully restored 
to life and activity by the cold-water cure. The bull- 
head is a good liver out of water if kept moist and cool. 



43^ Reminiscences of 

I well remember when a boy catching them on a misty 
night, and after leaving some of them in the wet grass 
behind me finding them alive in the morning. 

Most fishermen are familiar with the marsh grass 
chub netted along the sea-shore, which retain life so 
long out of the water. In former years, late in winter I 
have frequently carried them up to the Rangeleys for 
live bait, packed in cigar boxes, with flannel between 
layers. They will keep lively for some days if kept cool 
and put in water over nights. 

I am of the opinion that all kinds of fish in the lakes 
hibernate more or less as frogs do during the winter 
months, and certainly become dormant to a consider- 
able extent ; and I do not doubt that trout in a limited 
way go into the fluffy mud somewhat as about all the 
chubs and small fry do. In the open season the waters 
fairly swarm with the latter, while they are difficult to 
find after January. 

Trout stalking when the conditions are favorable 
may be accounted the most fascinating, exciting, and 
artistic method of taking the speckled beauties. 

The season in the northern waters of Maine is Sep- 
tember, when the summer heat is over, and when the 
cool days and nights have lowered the temperature of 
the surface waters down to 63° Fahrenheit, and below; 
the field, that of a placid lake or pond where trout 
abound, when the surface is entirely smooth, or agitated 
only by faint ripples. 

The afternoon is more favorable than the morning, 
although some days are throughout favorable. 

With the above conditions, and a light boat and com- 
panion guide at the stern who can skilfully propel the 
boat over the water with scarcely a ripple from the 



A Sportsman 439 

paddle, and with a light casting rod of good length, and 
a light leader and a No. 8 or 10 fly, and a landing net, 
one is equipped for the sport. 

It may be sunny or not, overcast or clear, it matters 
not if the wind is absent or light, but on a bright or 
sunny day the necessity of skilful work is more ap- 
parent than when the sky is overcast or dull. When 
the sun is shining or partially obscured, the boat should 
be worked between the sun and breaks, to the advan- 
tage of the fisherman and the disadvantage of the trout. 
The effect of shadow is light compared with the ad- 
vantages so gained. 

Many of the lakes and ponds in Maine where trout 
abound are favorable localities for this sport, although 
all are not, and there are usually quite a number of days 
in September when the temperature of the surface 
water and other features are entirely favorable. 

I will confess to have allowed some decades of fish- 
ing experiences to pass before I became familiar with 
this sport, to which of late years I have looked forward 
with much interest and expectation. 

The trout, which were plentiful near the surface 
from the going out of the ice until the middle of June 
when the surface water warmed up to a temperature of 
65°, have sunk away to cooler depths, where they re- 
main until the surface water again becomes favorable 
from the cooler weather of autumn. 

But in surface stalking one does not get so large fish 
as in spring trolling, for it is the medium-sized fish that 
gives itself the frolicsome play of surface feeding, weigh- 
ing from I lb. to 2I lbs., and, in the waters which I fre- 
quent, averaging a trifle over | lb. 

There are certain autumnal days when the conditions 



440 Reminiscences of 

are favorable, when it would seem as if all the medium- 
sized trout in the waters were surface feeding. 

Not in an eager and conspicuous manner with splash- 
ing breaks and flashing swirls, but in a quiet sucking in 
from the surface of the varied ephemera which plenti- 
fully abound, in a manner so quiet as to be observable 
only to the experienced eye. 

No minnow, however minute, can agitate the surface 
of the water more delicately than a i| lb. trout, if he 
wills it, and he does when so feeding, although the oc- 
casional more conspicuous break and swirl occurs in 
the presence of an unusually attractive lure, apparent 
to the most ordinary sight. 

Equipped, the boat is propelled deftly by its stern 
paddle over the feeding water. The fisherman is seated 
in the middle of the boat, casting softly to the right and 
left with the progress of the boat, for the advantage of 
a possible surface trout that may be about. A delicate 
apparent minnow break is observed off to the right, per- 
haps 50, perhaps 100 or more feet distant, of which, as 
soon as over, nothing remains to mark the exact spot ex- 
cept a possible air bubble or two. The boat is propelled 
toward the side of it, to within 35 or 40 ft., when the cast 
is given over or near the spot. Perhaps the fluttering 
fly is taken at the instant of its fall, for the trout may be 
directly beneath, but generally not, for the fly is al- 
most always taken below the surface, which position 
the fly will assume on a long cast and a slow draw. 

The trout is likely to have moved 10 or 1 5 ft., perhaps 
more, but he is almost sure to be picked up in the neigh- 
boring area if he has not been alarmed by unskilful 
movements of the boat or its occupants. 

Often an active trout will be on the go as feeding, and 



A Sportsman 44 1 

by the time that the boat has reached a position for 
casting over the first break, a second will be observed 
still beyond a possible cast, presumably from the trout 
which made the first break, and before the second 
break can be reached a third appears still farther on, 
and sometimes so on; and I have often followed up 
and secured my trout which has carried me by a dozen 
breaks and fifty or sixty rods beyond the initial 
appearance. 

Ordinarily, if a break occurs within a few boat- 
lengths' distance, which can be speedily reached, the 
chances are more than half in favor of securing the fish. 
If within casting distance the fish is almost sure of 
being secured. 

Often breaks will occur so near the boat that nothing 
can be done but for the stern man and caster to remain 
motionless until the boat, if under a headway, may pass 
on, when the chances are half in favor of the trout 
being picked up in the rear. If the boat is still, the 
chances of taking the trout are diminished, as the 
motions essential to shortening line and the prox- 
imity of the trout are likely to alarm the fish, and when 
alarmed he invariably strikes down. Occasionally 
the breaks are so plentiful that one may take half a 
dozen fish without moving his boat. I remember an 
instance a few years ago, when accompanied by an 
English fishing friend whose experience had been 
mostly in the dry fly drop of the Thames, where he had 
notable success, that we caught well out on the pond 
fourteen trout averaging nearly a pound in weight, 
without touching the paddle to the water, and my 
friend became exceedingly enthusiastic, which he well 
might be. 



442 Reminiscences of 

This fishing must not be confounded with pool fish- 
ing, or that which we often find in isolated ponds which 
are unfrequented, and where the little chaps, entirely 
uneducated to the penalty of the hook and fearless, will 
crowd about a raft or boat until a hundred or more 
may be picked up. 

The fishing I refer to is the stalking of the fish in well 
frequented waters, where they are sought and followed 
up under the peculiar conditions which regularly 
occur where the trout are scattered over the surface, 
and not in schools, and must be sought for by their 
feeding breaks; a fishing distinctive in character, and 
which I am sure is not extensively practised by all 
fishermen. 

It is not probable that localities favorable for this 
stalking exist about all trout waters, but there are 
hundreds, I dare say, of lakes and ponds in Maine 
where it can be most successfully followed. 

A habit I had much pleasure in, in winter was of 
watching and teasing the trout in the water below the 
ice. This I accommodated myself to by selecting a 
good locality for trout, where the water was not over 
8 or 9 feet in depth, with a sandy bottom. Lying upon 
some blankets, with a single one over my head, and a 
hookless line with a small chub tied at the end and a suf- 
ficient sinker, I would bob for the trout, which after a 
while would come swimming along, and noticing the 
bait would, first indifferently, but afterward more vigor- 
ously, engage with it. By drawing away the bait at 
the critical moment, after considerable teasing, the 
trout would follow up the bait, it being withdrawn, 
and having a fair-sized hole of something less than a 
foot square, and two feet or more of ice, I would shortly 



A Sportsman 443 

get the trout up near the bottom ice, and finally, at 
a last excited dash, rapidly withdraw the bait, with 
my hand at my side. The trout, following to the sur- 
face in its excitement, would for a moment be too con- 
fused to dive below, giving me in that moment the 
opportunity to rapidly put my hands below and cast 
him out upon the ice, unharmed, but much alarmed. 
This may appear difficult to do, but it is really quite 
simple, and I have taken four or five trout in a forenoon 
from a single hole in this manner. 

HOW FISHES FIND THEIR WAY IN THE WATER. 

This subject has been a subject of much discussion 
without resulting in any definite conclusion to many. 

One opinion given is that fish are directed by an 
observation of bottom ground, or other land guides, 
by depth of water, its temperature, etc. Temperature 
undoubtedly has a bearing on the subject, as fish seek 
and occupy zones most to their liking, of which a 
prominent illustration is shown by the Gulf Stream, 
inhabited by a class of fish which are not found outside 
of it, excepting in corresponding temperature. 

All fish are cold-blooded, yet the cetacean family, 
comprising the whale, orca, porpoise, seal, and kindred, 
avoid warm temperatures and invade the most frigid 
regions. But the seeking by the anadromous families 
of their appropriate spawning localities when scattered 
about in the depths of the sea, and the directness of 
their efforts, has been a subject of surprise. 

A conclusion generally arrived at is, that fishes are 
directed by instinct; by that mysterious inward im- 
pulse which, unreasoning, blindly directs its possessor 
for the preservation of its kind. True enough in the 



444 Reminiscences of 

respect of propagation in the necessitated element of 
fresh water, which nature impels a seeking for at 
the appropriate season. 

The question arises, how does the fish find its way to 
the fresh- water stream, as instanced by those which un- 
erringly arrive at the locality where their young lives 
commenced. We will admit, a priori, that fishes do find 
their way in the water. It is my opinion that fishes 
find their way through the water by explainable 
methods, as readily as humanity does in a forest 
where prominent objects direct the way. 

The sense of smell or a sense analgous to that is very 
strongly developed in fishes, especially in the Salmo 
family, with which I have had more experience than 
with any other. In the Salmo family and with many 
others there is a prominent line mark extending on 
the body from the head to the tail, which, when ex- 
amined closely, exhibits a cellular structure apart 
from the adjoining body. What bearing this feature 
has upon the possessor is conjectural, but it may com- 
prise a sense of communication which has not been 
estimated. There are probably other senses in creation 
which we do not know of, independent of the human 
category of five, which have a bearing little under- 
stood. 

In the absence of a strictly appropriate designation 
I will define scent as the element of perceptiveness 
which enables fishes to find their way in the water, 
and I will present my views in support of that theory 
from such observations as I have experienced. 

All fishermen have noted the rapid way trout have 
in expelling the artificial fiy if not hooked, and the 
attractive way bait-fishing has of drawing trout from 



A Sportsman 445 

a distance if followed in one place, the odor of which 
moving by slow currents reaches the perceptive organs 
of fish. Beyond this there is a condition of body 
which imparts to other fishes, and likewise attracts, 
that is inexplicable to our ordinary senses — that 
which is indicated by the members of a school of fish 
in keeping together, though often widely separated 
beyond any possibility of being aided by vision, con- 
spicuous with porpoises, orcas, sword- and flying-fish 
and an endless variety of other fishes. Whales upon 
a uniform feeding route will be widely separated, 
and it is a well-known fact that the harpooning of 
a whale belonging to a school will be almost imme- 
diately communicated to the other members, separated 
half a dozen miles apart, as observed by whalers. 

An eminent naturalist, Matthias Dunn, describes 
the lateral line as consisting in its cells of jelly or 
mucus, having patches of sensitive hairs here and there, 
as electrical implements pure and simple, inclosing 
the whole body of the fish, and says these cells are of 
the same character as those in the electric or stinging 
ray; that the fish brain is a magnet polarized by 
the influence of the peculiar structure of the lateral 
line, constituting a new sense which he designates as 
the electric dermal, which, he thinks, aids the migrating 
fish directly to its destination for spawning grounds 
or other localities. The latter conclusion may per- 
haps be of some doubt, though it may under natural 
laws guide the fish in response to magnetic effect 
from the rocks, sands and other elements. 

Stahr, the naturalist, considers that the sense of 
hearing is imparted by the influence of the lateral line. 

Fishermen have observed the feeding activity of 



44^ Reminiscences of 

salmon and trout before the commencement of a 
storm, the coming event being communicated prob- 
ably through the lateral line. This activity may be 
the result of electric stimulus, or a provision of nature 
in communicating by wireless telegraphy the necessity 
of obtaining food or depth shelter before the effect 
of combating elements. That fishes have a limited 
memory there can be but little doubt. 

Seth Green related in his hatchery experience of a pet 
two-pound trout in one of his hatchery pools, which, 
being so tame as to take food from his hand, would 
dart wildly away if approached with a fly-rod, although 
it gave no attention to a walking-stick waved out over 
the water. This resulted from Mr. Green's having once 
caught the trout on a fly-rod with a barbless hook. 
Contrary to this instance of memory I have often caught 
trout which had but a short time before escaped by 
the breaking off of the fly, or the leader, with the 
evidence of the previous hooking visible from the im- 
bedded fly and perhaps with a dangling remnant of a 
leader. I have many times caught trout which had 
been hooked before. 

I remember a visit a few years ago of a friend, 
George A. Hull, who fastened to a good-sized trout, be- 
tween four and five pounds in weight, which broke away 
after being played for some moments when about to 
be netted, carrying off the hook and half of his leader. 
He estimated the trout as a somewhat heavier weight 
than it proved to be, and came in disappointed. In 
less than a quarter of an hour afterward I had this 
identical trout on my fly, and brought it successfully 
to net, verified by the indisputable evidence of the 



A Sportsman 447 

particular lost fly and parted leader. This did not 
show much memory, and would shade the theory of 
Dr. Dunn that the primitive memory of anadromous 
fishes directed them to the particular stream of 
their early life, directed by the dermal sense in its 
magnet polarization as the needle guides the mariner 
to point of destination. 

A. H. Gouraud, in one of his articles concerning 
the movements of shad to the Connecticut River 
from Long Island Sound, said they approached the 
mouth of the river from the east, but did not reach 
the mouth by direct course from the waters of the 
Sound, as the discharge from the river pursued a west- 
erly course in its current, making a loop, so to say, and 
the shad took their course up the current of the river 
waters, thereby occasioning a distance of a score of miles 
more than would be required if the shad had gone direct. 
This loop course in the sound had been clearly defined 
by the net fishermen. This would indicate that the 
current of the river was the guide for the shad to follow. 
He adds: "This fluvial characteristic may be due to 
distinctive mineral particles which, retained in solution 
far out at sea, may be revealed to the delicate percep- 
tiveness of the fish, and so guide it from the deep to 
its bourn." 

I would add to the mineral particles also the vege- 
table, an important element, distinct, and noticeable 
by fish. It is the following of these elements that 
guides the fish, which may to an extent have an edu- 
cated perception as well as taste. I have frequently 
found whole fresh-water clams up to two inches and 
over in length in the stomachs of trout, which are 



448 Reminiscences of 

apparently easily digested, having been scooped up 
by an appetizing eagerness from the scent of the 
open clam. 

It is doubtful if salmon depart far in the sea from 
the estuaries of their native stream, not beyond the 
reach of its diffused water, which they readily follow 
up on approach of their propagating period, from three 
to four years after their exit, as the salmon are not ex- 
tensive travellers, as indicated by the results of seining, 
and upon the Pacific Coast it is evident that they sel- 
dom depart more than a hundred miles from their 
streams, and that their principal habitats are at no 
greater depth than from loo to 150 fathoms. I could 
give pretty conclusive evidence of this from the ob- 
servation I have made in this respect. 

The Pacific salmon have their respective streams, 
and at their season of stream-ascending are generally 
distinct from any of the other several varieties, al- 
though not entirely so, being accompanied occasion- 
ally by derelicts from a kindred family. 

I should consider it very improbable that a young 
salmon conveyed from one of the St. Lawrence tribu- 
taries to an European stream would ever find its way 
back to its native stream, as its connecting link would 
be lost, and should doubt the efficacy of its magnetic 
dermal sense to direct it there. It is possible that a 
salmon by its delicate perceptiveness may distinguish 
the diluted odor of its natal tributary in the general 
flow of its fresh-water stream, — 'else why should its as- 
cending course be sustained short of its objective 
point ? It is not likely it has any distinct memory of its 
early association in the tributary where the first year 
of its life was passed, and perhaps two years, though 



A Sportsman 449 

the familiar flow of its water may be detected and ap- 
peal to its motive in pushing on. 

Thomas Tod Stoddart, an English author-fisherman, 
relates that while fishing on a stream with spawn-bait 
during the day, at the close he caught several 
black-bellied trout not frequenting the stream, ex- 
cepting in a muddy-bottomed pond connecting, sit- 
uated between two and three miles below, which had 
undoubtedly been attracted to follow up the stream 
by the odor of the spawn bait. 

My friend Walter M. Brackett, the veteran salmon 
fisherman and distinguished fish painter, with whom 
for nearly half a century I have compared fishing notes, 
is as strongly convinced as I am of the extraordinarily 
acute sense of smell possessed by the Salmo family, 
and relates in his own experience at his own Canadian 
salmon stream, where he has never used any attraction 
other than a fly, of noting large numbers of salmon and 
trout as having been attracted and drawn up from 
considerable distances down the stream, from a quan- 
tity of spawn being attached to the stern of a canoe 
fastened at the river bank above. 

After the ice disappears in the spring, and at the 
spawning season, these habitating trout leave their 
localities more or less, but by no means lose their 
reckoning. 

Trout, if removed from their habitats and dropped 
in any parts of the lake, will speedily return home; of 
this I have had abundant evidence. This is especially 
evinced during the spawning season, when trout taken 
away from a spawning bed will return with celerity. 
A particularly thin and slabby milter weighing about 
two pounds I purposely experimented with, by carrying 



450 Reminiscences of 

him off into the lake a mile before liberating him from 
the towing car, and caught him at the first place again 
that evening. I liberated him the second time fully 
three miles away and found him the following morning 
at the old stand. 

The general movements of the Salmo family occur 
in the night, as in ascending streams, however tor- 
tuous or difficult, lying by in the daytime. Their 
feeding also is done principally after dark, when they 
are more daring and predatory, and they do not assume 
their full night vigorousness in the dusky twilight, 
nor by moonlight, but in the darker hours, when their 
boldness is conspicuous, and will take the fly of sombre 
color in preference to one of white. I have wondered 
with their night adaptiveness of sight how little their 
day shyness is indicated, when I have frequently had 
them, in pursuit of small fish, dash up within hand 
reach on fiat rocks or the sandy beach where I have 
been sitting. 

The lake water appears uniform as does the sea to the 
casual observer, but there is a varying quality, and 
many currents in both. These qualities are not ap- 
parent to our coarser senses excepting in a very or- 
dinary way, but the respiratory organs of the fish, the 
gills, etc., may be keenly sensitive to conditions of tem- 
perature and water admixtures, even as our sense of 
smell detects the faint odor of smoke in the country 
fields or forest. The different qualities of water in 
this lake of six miles in length which I inhabit now more 
than others, are quite apparent to my taste, and I have 
often remarked the odor in drinking water from the 
sheltered coves, arising from vegetable matter; also 
in that taken from a forty -or fifty-foot depth. 



A Sportsman 451 

Every stream or rivulet which empties into the lake 
has a distinctive taste, apart from the others, stamped 
and impregnated with the quality of the ground and 
foliage through which it makes way. 

The ice indicates perceptibly to the eye the prom- 
inent instances in this respect; currents imperceptible 
to the eye are constantly moving in various direc- 
tions, and are the directing signboards for the fish. 

Fishing on the California coast with fresh fish 
bait, I caught some hundreds of salmon by trolling 
with a light steel rod and 600 feet of line. I observed 
the following features : That as schools of salmon com- 
prising many thousands came in from deep water, 
following up the anchovies, sardines and squid, which 
came in from spawning, they would at certain periods 
mostly all disappear, to be followed after a lull by 
other schools. I observed that the salmon would 
disappear a few days after a rise of water from either 
the San Joaquin or the Sacramento river, emptying 
into the bay of San Francisco, giving abundant salmon 
for the seining and canning works upon the banks of 
the latter. By the San Francisco papers the noting 
of the salmon arrivals would be four or five days after 
their disappearance from the Monterey waters. 

The Japanese current known as the kuro siwo, the 
great current stream from the Yellow Sea, corre- 
sponding with the American Gulf Stream, pursues 
its way across the Pacific Ocean to the California coast, 
regulating the climate from California to Alaska as 
does the American Gulf Stream that of England, 
France, and Iceland; pursues its way north some 300 
or 400 miles west of California until it reaches the long 
extending loop of the Aleutian Islands, which ends 



452 Reminiscences of 

but a few hundred miles from the Asiatic coast. This 
loop of islands diverts the Japanese current inland and 
the stream curves in its route until it proceeds 
south along the Washington, Oregon, and California 
coasts; and the remarkable feature is presented of 
two mighty streams, but slightly apart, proceeding 
in opposite directions in greater volume than all the 
combined land rivers of the world could exhibit if 
united in one body. 

The speed of this mighty current south opposite the 
outlet of the bay of San Francisco is estimated at be- 
tween thirty and forty miles per day of twenty-four 
hours. Into this current pour the brackish and roiled 
waters of the bay. 

The fresh water combining with the salt is quickly 
detected by the salmon a hundred miles below, and a 
general exodus of the salmon takes place, leaving but 
a few stragglers remaining. 

In three or four days after their departure the 
canners on the Sacramento River are abundantly 
supplied by seiners. 

Shortly afterward a fresh school comes in, which 
departs as those before after a few days following 
a fresh rise of the river waters, and appears as in the 
first instance a few days after their departure at the 
usual seining localities. These instances occurring 
several times during my fishing period plainly indicated 
to me the result of the river freshets. No mistake 
could occur in the identity of the particular schools 
in disappearing from the Monterey waters and appear- 
ing at the Sacramento River, as the same class of salmon 
known as the king or chinook, inhabiting the Col- 
umbia River several hundred miles north of the 



A Sportsman 453 

bay of San Francisco, average about 22 pounds in 
weight, while those of the Sacramento and San Joa- 
quin rivers average almost exactly 1 7 pounds, as shown 
by the average weights taken at each locality. 

No salmon-ascending rivers existing between the 
two mentioned points would clearly indicate the identity 
of the Monterey and Sacramento River class. So 
the salmon of the Pacific Coast go to their spawning 
grounds, never to return to the refreshing sea again; 
or if by chance a few should be able to, their bruised 
condition and totally impaired digestive organs result 
in but a brief existence. No authentic instance is 
known of a river salmon's survival on the Pacific Coast. 
If any had been taken they would show their identity 
by their disfigured appearance, which has never been 
observed. 

In the banner year of 1902, 15,000,000 salmon were 
canned on the coast; yet no serious diminution in 
numbers has occurred, nor have the results of conducted 
hatcheries shown great success, despite the general 
opinion to the contrary. Therefore the great mass of 
salmon regularly taken may be assumed to be the 
progeny of those who sacrificed their lives for suc- 
cessors. 

That electrical elements are prominent features in 
the denizens of the sea and fresh -water bodies, is 
clearly apparent and of undoubted efficient service, 
and may be a part of that element I have designated 
as scent, as a general sense which gives perceptiveness 
of fresh water in the sea, or of minerals and earth in 
solution, from magnetic qualities. This electric quality, 
or whatever we may choose to call it, we observe in 
freshly-caught fish which curl up and break in cooking, 



454 Reminiscences of 

giving a feature not apparent when fish have been 
kept a day or two. 

Eels display this element prominently, and also the 
bull-head or horn-pout. The marine mammals may 
receive large benefits from it in their long passages 
in the sea. 

I am reminded of an account related to me by an 
English friend, of a pet seal owned by some one he knew 
who kept a lighthouse on the coast of England, which, 
captured when a cub, was domesticated with the 
family, being fed and allowed the range of the kitchen 
on the ground floor, to which the seal had ready access. 
This seal would make its way daily down to the water 
and pass many hours in the element, securing more or 
less food, but always returned to its place in the kitchen 
at night. Blindness finally came on with age to the 
seal, but it continued its journeys to the sea and, re- 
turned home as regularly as before. Complete blind- 
ness finally came to the seal, and, fully fed by the house- 
hold, its visits to the sea became less frequent. As old 
age came on, it caused annoyance by its peculiar cry 
for food and lessened ability to get about ; so much so 
that the family accounted it something of a nuisance, 
and, not wishing to kill it, arranged with a fisherman to 
carry it well off, some twenty miles away, and drop 
it in the sea, expecting it would naturally die in that 
element. But it appeared the second day after at its 
accustomed place. Another effort was made to get 
rid of it, by arranging with a sailing vessel to take it 
several hundred miles out to sea and then drop it in. 
This was done, and a number of days passed away 
without the seal. Six or seven days after, during the 
night, the kitchen maid, who slept adjoining the 



A Sportsman 455 

kitchen entrance, fancied she heard the plaintive call 
of the seal at the kitchen door, but being of a supersti- 
tious cast, and believing the call was from the banshee 
or bad spirit, covered her head beneath the bed clothes. 
In the morning the emaciated body of the lifeless seal 
was found at the kitchen door. The story may be 
authentic or not, but I do not consider its truthfulness 
to have been impossible. 

The vegetable growth in the water, kelp, etc., and 
currents were familiar to the seal, and sight would have 
been of little aid to it compared with following the 
perceptions of its other senses. 

Some naturalists have expressed the belief that fishes 
find their way to their spawning rivers or desired 
localities in a direct course by the pointing of instinct, 
and that alone. This conclusion does not seem to be 
well evidenced or satisfactory. 

But the mysterious fish of the lakes is the blue-back 
trout (Salmo oquassa), entirely distinct from the Salmo 
salvelinus, with which it has no affiiliation, being, 
strictly speaking, an arctic trout, which in some pecul- 
iar manner has found its way to the Rangeley waters, 
as well as to a few other northern lakes. As ordinarily 
taken they weigh about five to the pound, the maxi- 
mum being near half a pound. The fish is quite dis- 
tinctly a trout, with fine coloring and red spots. It has 
in contradistinction to the square tail of the Salmo 
family a swallow tail, and a blue back and exceedingly 
small teeth. The fish is long and slim for its weight, 
and for food purposes inferior, though claimed by 
many to be equal to the ordinary trout, but to my 
taste soft and muddy. One might fish the Rangeley 
for years and never encounter one or suspect its pres- 



456 Reminiscences of 

ence, yet they exist in large quantities. Rarely — in 
fact I have never heard of but one or two instances 
where they have been caught with bait, and that in deep 
water. They are strictly denizens of the deepest parts 
of the lakes, and apparently subsist exclusively upon 
ground feed. This ground feed of the lakes is an import- 
ant element with all fish, composed of insectivorous var- 
ieties and largely viscous matter, which settle profusely. 
In the latter part of the month of October — ^from the 
2oth to the 30th — the blue-backs find their way to the 
mouths of some streams, and ascend more or less into 
the quick water, where they deposit their spawn. Their 
appearance can be counted upon by the 24th almost to 
a day, and the quantity assembled is immense, and in 
some instances so compact is the mass that barrelsful 
can be netted from a small space. During the brief 
period of spawning they are easily taken after dark 
from the shallow quick water by one wading among 
them equipped with a lantern and a hand net. I have 
often taken several hundred of them upon an occasion 
of this kind. Their tenacity of life I have noted as a 
peculiar feature, for I have had them out of water for 
several hours of a cold evening and fully revived some 
of them by placing them in a barrel of fresh water, 
where they have survived for several weeks, and in fact 
would have survived much longer but for the freezing 
up of the water. This fish would undoubtedly stand 
solid freezing under favorable conditions equally well 
if not better than the Fontinalis. The only one I ever 
saw out of season I picked up some years ago on the 
surface, which was in a dying condition, having been 
wounded evidently by a loon, as evinced by a large 
hole through its body. 



A Sportsman 457 

They remain on the spawning beds during the nights 
of about a week in the latter part of October. The 
large trout often get among them on the spawning 
grounds at night and make havoc. One evening as I 
was wading with rubber boots, with lantern and net, 
I felt a heavy movement on my legs, and turning my 
light saw a large trout, which, I netted, weighing seven 
pounds. 

Of late years the landlocked salmon (Salmo con- 
finis) have become fairly plentiful, particularly in the 
Rangeley Lake proper, where first introduced, some 
twenty years ago, and also in the large lake, and in 
the Richardson Lakes. In the latter a member of my 
family caught one weighing seven and one-half pounds. 
The salt water smelt introduced a few years ago has 
increased extensively and extended rapidly to all 
the lakes of the range. This fish seems readily to 
habituate itself to most fresh- water lakes, and has 
increased to a very large extent in the Rangeley 
waters, although confined to a small size of three or four 
inches in length. Although large numbers are ob- 
served dead, floating upon the surface of the water in 
the spring-time, the increase seems hardly to be affected. 
This fish is apparently an admirable food for the salmon 
and trout, and in the spring would seem to be the prin- 
cipal food, as their stomachs seem to be crowded with 
them, and I have repeatedly observed from fifty to 
seventy in a single trout of large size. 

I consider without question the smelt to be the most 
valuable fish for food stocking of fresh-water ponds and 
lakes. 

The landlocked salmon varies in size largely in the 
fresh-water lakes where placed In the Sebago Lake 



45^ Reminiscences of 

they reach a weight in some instances exceeding 20 
pounds, and in the Rangeleys they are often caught up 
to 12 pounds, while in the Schoodic Lakes, where they 
have been long domesticated, and where I have caught 
many hundreds, they seldom exceed 5 pounds. In 
California, near Point Reyes, in Crystal Lake, con- 
trolled by the Country Club, and where I aided some 
years ago in introducing the landlocked salmon, they 
gained most incredibly in weight in less than four years, 
from a few ounces up to 5 and 5^ pounds. In this lake 
the feed was almost entirely insectivorous, and largely — 
and in fact I might say almost wholly — the larva of 
the caddis fly, which abounded most plentifully, and 
which seemed to be the whole contents of all the stom- 
achs I examined at various times. I regret to say, 
however, that the flavor of these salmon is distinctly 
off from any I have ever eaten, arising, I believe, from 
the almost exclusive diet. These salmon, however, 
will rise well to the fly, and are vigorously gamelike. 
Crystal Lake is infested also with a red salamander 
lizard, known as the water devil, quite common in Cali- 
fornia waters, and one of the toughest and most tena- 
cious reptiles of the batrachian family, although quite 
harmless. These lizards are 3 or 4 inches in length, 
and swim rapidly about with the aid of their tails. 
Their skin and structure is so tough that it requires 
a very sharp knife to separate them, and they have a 
very tenacious life. I found one day on the shore of the 
lake a salmon between 4 and 5 pounds in weight, freshly 
dead, and upon examining it found one of these lizards 
firmly fixed with a deathly grasp in the throat of the 
salmon, likewise dead. It was plain enough that 
the salmon had seized the lizard and the latter had 



A Sportsman 459 

secured his deadly hold in the salmon's throat, from 
which I had a good deal of difficulty in parting it. I 
was told by one of the cattle herders that he had seen 
other instances, and in his opinion the salmon fed upon 
the water devils and the latter in the lake had much 
diminished since the salmon had been put in. The 
odor of the water devils when cut up is very disagree- 
able, and it may be that this accounts for the inferior 
flavor of the fish. 

While trout are fonder of insectivorous food in pref- 
erence to any other, and it is a well-known fact that 
while growing will gain doubly in weight on this food 
over a fish diet, it is observable that a deterioration 
in flavor occurs from this exclusive food. I have taken 
trout in ponds at high altitudes in the Rocky Moun- 
tains, above timber growth, where such waters were 
hardly free from ice in July, where the trout food was 
exclusively insectivorous, and they were decidedly 
lacking in flavor. 

This landlocked salmon is very gamy in action when 
struck, more so than the trout, and good eating in 
the Rangeleys, though in this respect not equal to 
the trout. The latter in my opinion are superior for 
eating over any from localities I know of, for trout vary 
much in this respect. 

THE forests about the lakes are naturally adapted for 
deer {Cervus Virginianus), which have always been 
comparatively plentiful, despite the inclement winters 
and deep snows, and undoubtedly, owing to the 
rigid Maine laws, are increasing about the lakes, for 
the practically enforced regulations against shining 
and crusting give an opportunity to increase, and they 



46o Reminiscences of 

do so slowly but surely when protected and free from 
wolves, as in this locality. 

While I have killed many in this locality, I find that 
their shooting is attended with a great deal of exercise. 
I may not be a very good hunter, but I find that I have 
to travel altogether nearly fifty miles for every deer 
that I get. 

It seems when I start out that I am likely to get a 
deer about every time I go, but I do not, nor one in a 
dozen times. But the interest is unflagging. The 
pleasure of being out in the forest compensates for 
all exertions, and exertion is a pleasure. The forest, 
never tame, is always exhilarating, and leads on with 
its varied attractions. With a good compass and a 
tolerable knowledge of the localities about, it is a 
supreme satisfaction to be alone for a while and to be 
lured on by a charm which is indescribable to those 
who have not experienced it. 

The object which fascinates the mind is before you, 
no matter whether you accomplish it or not. It may 
prove aimless as your rifle with good opportunity, 
but little does it count, for expectation is rampant, 
and hope lures on to the satisfaction of wholesome 
fatigue. 

Deer are often seen about the camps during the 
close season, and particularly about the ponds. At 
one fishing place, near a lily -pad growth which I often 
visit in the summer, I frequently find several deer 
about, and occasionally a doe with her fawn who re- 
treat upon my near approach, but speedily return upon 
my departure. 

We often notice the inclination of animals and birds 
to frequent the immediate vicinity of human beings, 



A Sportsman 461 

and invite their companionship, evincing a disposition 
to be friendly if they could, but, alas, too often com- 
pelled to pay the penalty of death for their temerity. 

In the later season deer are doubly cautious and 
shy, and if observed browsing in the woods appear to 
be on the closest guard, and steal off upon hearing the 
slightest crackling of twigs or rustling of leaves, and 
generally before being observed by the sportsman. 
When lying down, they will often rest until sighting 
the intruder, sometimes allowing a close approach, 
expecting possibly to be unobserved, and when rising 
will immediately bound off at a rapid rate, and most 
adroitly take advantage of shielding trees or bushes 
to cover the retreat. Rarely they will stand a moment 
or so before the sportsman but generally bound off in 
the partially open forest, and occasionally, under 
favorable conditions, they are first observed. These 
are the opportunities sought for by the sportsman, 
and fortunate he is if his shot is a stopping one; 
for often, although fatally wounded, they will travel 
for miles. 

I have almost always during my stay at the lakes in 
October and November during the open season taken 
in one, and sometimes two (the latter being the limit 
allowed sportsmen in one season). Last season I had 
a most aggravating incident, when I did not obtain a 
single deer. I had only one fair opportunity to shoot 
one, and that recollection is by no means satisfactory, 
for it was so fair and open that I could not have wished 
it better if I would. The conditions were very favor- 
able, the ground and leaves moist, a darkish day, a 
gentle breeze, and myself approaching from the lee- 
ward. I was proceeding at the time down an old 



462 Reminiscences of 

logging road which I had been on several times and 
where I had observed the tracks and indications of a 
very large deer. Proceeding along cautiously, as was 
my wont, looking at every spot where I was putting 
my feet, to avoid the crackling of a twig or decayed 
limb, and still looking ahead, I observed, perfectly 
motionless, not ten rods ahead of me as I turned an 
angle of this old road, one of the largest bucks, I think, 
I have ever seen, the one whose tracks I had observed. 
He was standing apparently clear entirely from the 
timber by the side of the road, broadside toward me, 
perfectly motionless, with his head and large antlers 
slightly turned toward me and gazing upon me with 
apparently the same interest that I felt in seeing him. 
Mentally I thought he was mine surely; with the rifle 
in my hand which had brought down several deer 
before at single shots, and with nothing distracting 
my view, nor troubled by buck fever, which I have 
never experienced, but as coolly and deliberately as I 
would fire at a target ten rods off, which was the dis- 
tance of this buck, I brought carefully my rifle sights 
to a level, and without any haste, taking the most 
deliberate aim which was afforded by the oppor- 
tunity, I fired. I fired at his body slightly back of the 
shoulder blades. It was a rough surprise to the buck. 
He turned, however, quickly taking his back track, 
and throwing up his signal flag of departure, which 
indicated that he was not hit, or at least had not re- 
ceived any wound of importance, and went off with 
bounds too rapid for me, owing to the then obstructing 
foliage, to get another shot. Astounded at my failure, 
I started after him, after having rapidly thrown another 
cartridge into the barrel of my rifle. I could follow 



A Sportsman 463 

him, owing to the condition of the leaves, without 
difficulty, but I found no trace of blood, and saw that 
he indicated no intimation of having been wounded. 
I returned to the spot where he stood when I shot, and 
there I found to my mortification and great annoyance 
a leafless maple sapling of about an inch and a half in 
diameter, which I had not observed when I fired, and 
at the level corresponding with the place which I shot 
at the sapling was shattered and nearly cut off by my 
rifle ball where its soft nose had exploded and become 
diverted from its passage in some direction away from 
the deer. This was the result of all my stalking, but 
it could not take away the satisfaction — the daily 
satisfaction — I had experienced. One must have an 
object for all exertions that is sustaining, and lends 
vigor and enjoyment to pursuits, which when aimless 
are of slight value. 

The last two deer I shot I came upon unnoticed. 
They were standing a moderate distance off. It seemed 
a pity to shoot at them, so beautiful and innocent as 
they appeared. But I did. One was half broadside 
toward me, which I shot through the heart, when he 
dropped in his tracks, and perhaps was not conscious 
of his wound. The other was feeding, heading away 
from me, and I had to whistle for him to turn, and as 
he did, my bullet broke his neck. Last year, one day 
when I had hunted over a ten-mile tramp most care- 
fully carrying my rifle in front, ready for immediate 
action, without seeing or hearing a deer, I approached 
within a quarter of a mile of camp, when I relaxed my 
careful walk and search, and threw my rifle carelessly 
over my shoulder. The forest was thickly grown, and 
as I passed a small thicket a deer rushed across my path 



464 Reminiscences of 

within four feet of me, so that he almost ran over me; 
but he appeared so suddenly and leaped so rapidly into 
the thick brush that I was unable to unlimber in sea- 
son, scarcely a second passing between his advent and 
disappearance. This deer had apparently been lying 
down when surprised. 

One of our party had a curious experience two or 
three years ago in this locality. He shot at a buck a 
considerable distance away, observed it to fall, and 
when approaching discovered that in falling the buck 
had imbedded its horns in the ground and at the same 
time had thrust the front part of its head beneath 
a shelving rock, from which it was impossible to with- 
draw it, although the buck was not fatally wounded, 
having been struck in the shoulder, where the bullet 
remained, without passing through or breaking the 
bones. The struggles of the deer to disentangle him- 
self were immense, but without avail, and his throat 
was cut after some difficulty. The deer's head was so 
firmly fastened beneath the rock, and so held by its 
horns, that after its death it was so difficult to remove 
that it could only be accomplished by digging out 
the horns. That the deer could never have liberated 
itself was quite apparent. 

Several years ago, in January, while coming up the 
lake on the ice to camp, we observed something 
about a mile ahead, which we thought might be a 
broken bough, as they often blow out on the ice when 
it is clear. As we came nearer we observed it had 
some movement, and upon a near approach we dis- 
cerned it to be a large buck, stranded by his inability 
to stand on the slippery ice. He made desperate 
efforts to get on his feet as we came nearer, but the 



A Sportsman 465 

moment he got up his legs would divide and down he 
would go. How he got out so far, at least half a 
mile from shore, was a puzzle, and indicated the great 
tussle he must have had. 

He probably had stepped out at first from the woods 
on some snow ice, and made a little progress on the 
lake, when his footing gave way, and in his misguided, 
struggling efforts he had worked away from shore 
instead of toward it. He was pretty thoroughly ex- 
hausted, although belligerent toward us still. His 
efforts to get up were incessant, but his legs would 
divide in a moment, which must have been very un- 
pleasant to him. We concluded to give him a new 
start in life; so, throwing a halter over his head, we 
dragged him over the ice with our young and well shod 
horse to the shore, and then by hand and other efforts 
some twenty feet inland. Even then he seemed unable 
to get on his feet, so wounded in sinews he must have 
been from his battle on the slippery ice. We held on, 
however, until he got on his legs, and saw him well off 
on his tottering limbs, although his progress was slow 
and undoubtedly agonizing. 

We observed one day in front of camp an animal 
swimming in the water about a quarter of a mile from 
shore. Manning a boat, we soon overtook it and 
found it was a yearling doe, which after some exciting 
work, as the deer was very active, we succeeded in 
capturing alive, and brought it ashore. We confined 
it in an enclosure and supplied it with boughs to browse 
upon, and some boiled pototoes and oats, which it 
fed from during the first night, and fed regularly after, 
until we let it go back to the woods. It was very shy 
at first, but rapidly became tame, and when we let it 



466 Reminiscences of 

go it seemed loath to leave, commencing to feed near 
as soon as liberated, and allowed us to approach 
closely, but gradually worked its way into the forest 
and finally disappeared from view. 

An amusing incident happened to a friend of mine 
who had hunted most persistently without success. 
He wore glasses, without which he could not well see. 
While passing through a thick clump of tall bushes 
he was astounded by a terrific snort from a large buck 
scarcely five feet in front of him, which, facing him, ac- 
companied his unmusical ejaculation with sufficient 
mouth-watering to becloud my friend's glasses beyond 
use. He was compelled to clean them, and when ready 
for action sought in vain for his insulting momentary 
associate, who had made good his retreat. My friend 
in relating his experience said, "I met a big buck to- 
day, but he spat in my face, and left. Confound him, 
I am going after him now, hot." 

A lady friend at my camp a few years ago who had 
killed a deer concluded to go out after another, and 
did so, with a guide at a proper distance in the rear. 
She had gone but a short distance, but proceeding 
with slow pace and great care, when she was suddenly 
confronted from a clump of bushes near, by an 
enormous buck, which stepped out in a leisurely 
manner and stood for several seconds not ten feet off, 
there they stood gazing in astonishment at each 
other. Then with a few graceful bounds the buck 
disappeared among the trees. Upon relating the 
incident upon her return I asked, "But why did you 
not shoot him?", to which she replied, "I never thought 
of it. I wanted to see what he would do" — and she 
saw. 



A Sportsman 467 

Deer, though often sought for most diUgently, may 
be difficult to find, and yet may be stumbled upon at 
times quite readily. A few years ago a friend of mine 
lately arrived from England, went out with me early in 
the morning on October ist, the first day of the open 
season, and being in advance of me, and not more than 
half an hour after starting, shot and killed two deer 
which came with a third running down upon him, 
thus completing his quota for the season. 

Now, completing my sporting reminiscences, I have 
in view the writing of my business experiences. 
These, having been exceedingly varied in character 
and extending over half a century, will frankly exhibit 
the perils, with good and bad fortune, which have 
attended my ventures, from which now I am fully 
retired. 



r <2- 



